NL taxpayers are paying millions and millions for travel nurses in this province, for everything from salaries, to taxis, to cable bills. We spoke with president of NAPE

CBC Newfoundland Morning

The province is spending millions and millions of dollars on travel nurses. An investigative story by the Globe and Mail is outlining just how some of that money is being spent......and it has outraged the nurses union, the opposition and others. The Globe and Mail says the province spent 35 million dollars on nurses from private agencies between April and August of 2023, and the provincial government paid more than 300 dollars an hour for some travel nurses.. The province paid out millions in other expenses, too... from travel, to meal allowances, furniture, cab rides - even cable bills. The report also says the private nursing firm the province hired charged nearly DOUBLE the rate of similar agencies in Canada. Jerry Earle is president of NAPE - which represents almost ten-thousand workers in the health care system.