The health minister is calling new information that’s come to light about travel nurse spending in the province “unsettling” and “very upsetting.”
Last June, Auditor General Denise Hanrahan released a scathing audit report of travel nurse contracts, covering the period from 2022 to March of 2025.
The report revealed that the average agency nurse was costing the health authority more than $400,000 per year, and highlighted potential instances of fraud.
A recent CBC article broke down some of the expenditures even further, revealing that, for example, one nurse had overlapping travel expenses for an electric vehicle, another vehicle, taxis, and a flight.
All of those expenses came under the watch of the former Liberal administration.
Minister Lela Evans says a forensic review is ongoing, and there are potential legal implications to the revelations.
She says they have to make sure the review is done right so people can be held accountable for what happened
Evans had some pointed words for the former administration, noting that there was “no money in the budget” for travel nurses last year, yet they ended up costing government $80-million.
The year before that, she says, there was money in the budget, but government went more than $100-million over. ” That’s irresponsible, that’s unheard of, that should never have been tolerated, (and) that shows…what kind of culture we’re dealing with,” says Evans who adds “no wonder the healthcare system is in a mess.”
Meanwhile, the Liberals are defending the way the situation was handled.
They say they acted “immediately” and launched a third-party investigation into allegations of fraud, directed the NLHS Board of Trustees to determine where further action is required, initiated a review of processes and policies, and engaged the Comptroller General to assess actions taken by the health authority.
They say that work is now in the hands of the current government and it is up to them to make sure safeguards are fully implemented.
