Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I don't disagree with the Member. I would suggest, however, or respectfully point out, that we have about a 25 percent vacancy rate, which is very high. But it also indicates that we are staffed up 75 percent and we're managing to provide coverage on the other 25. We're going to have a graduating class of our first-time degree'd nurses, which is a process that's taken years to put into place. We've gone from relative ground zero with the nursing program over a relatively short period of time, to start turning out northern graduates. We have, or have had in the last year or so, 15 nurse practitioners in training that have started to come out of the door with their qualifications. That is a good investment. We're building those folks into the system and we're tying them into all the other allied health professions that we have with the midwives and the doctors that we've added. Our big measurement of success is going to be if we can break the cycle of dependence on agency nurses and see the vacancy rate start to diminish, in my opinion. Thank you.
Michael Miltenberger on Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on February 20th, 2006. See this statement in context.
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 19th, 2006
Page 1139
See context to find out what was said next.