District 8: Stanhope - Marshfield's candidates' promises on Health & Healthcare

Access to abortion services

We don't have any PC policies on Access to abortion services.

NDP

Fully-fund medical and surgical abortion services, and increase access across the Island, especially in rural areas

Ambulance and emergency wait-times

PC

Hire more physician assistants and nurse practitioners to provide Emergency Room care
Make virtual care apps like Maple free
Set up a task force to create a plan for reducing delays when offloading patients from ambulances
Hire more care providers and patient advocates to provide waiting room support
Provide up to $20k more funding to fire departments offering Medical First Responder services
Add four full-time ambulances
Provide free tuition for primary and advanced care paramedics who serve in PEI for two years
Offer recruitment incentives for rural paramedic positions
Provide funding to organisations providing non-urgent patient transfers

"Providing funding to organizations such as Pat and the Elephant, Transportation West, and others to do the non-urgent transfer of medically stable patient transfers on PEI. This funding would include covering transportation costs as well as providing funding for the necessary equipment and vehicles to provide patient transfers" — peipc.ca, 2023-03-07

NDP

Hire physician assistants to ease pressure on regional hospitals
Provide speical bonus funding for secure staffing at district hospital emergency rooms
Create a publicly-owned agency to operate extramural emergency medical services
Provide clear standards for the delivery of ER services and ambulance response times
Expand Holland College's paramedic training programmes

Chronic pain

PC

Develop a Chronic Pain Management Strategy and set up a clinic

"Develop and support a Chronic Pain Management Strategy and Chronic Pain Management Clinic" — [With You. For You., 2023-03-24](With You. For You., 2023-03-24)

We don't have any NDP policies on Chronic pain.

Dental care and optometry

PC

Provide insurance for health, dental, and medications for part-time, seasonal, contract, and gig workers

"Create a Portable Health Benefits Program to provide health, dental, and medication insurance for workers who may not be employed full-time, year-round, or those facing barriers to insurance coverage like seasonal workers, contract employees, and gig economy workers." — peipc.ca, 2023-03-10
Expand the Eye See...Eye Learn Program to ages 0-12

"Expand the Eye See...Eye Learn Program to provide children with two free eye exams and two free pairs of eyeglasses between birth and age 12" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

NDP

Work with the federal government to create a universal dental care programme

Diabetes

PC

Remove the age requirement on the Diabetes Insulin Pump Program
Remove the age cap on continuous glucose monitoring devices

"Remove the age cap on continuous glucose monitoring devices and provide support based on household income levels" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

We don't have any NDP policies on Diabetes.

Drugs and addiction

PC

Provide $250K to allow workers who work with vulnerable people to take the Brain Story Certification training

"Provide $250,000 to facilitate frontline workers — such as social workers, healthcare professionals, correctional workers, police officers and anyone who works with vulnerable Islanders — to take the Brain Story Certification training to better understand the connection between brain development to addiction and mental health" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Invest in a dedicated site in Charlottetown to provide wrap-around services for vulnerable Islanders

"Invest in a Charlottetown-based dedicated site to provide wrap-around services for vulnerable Islanders, including but not limited to Community Outreach Centre, supportive housing, housing that fosters independent living, harm reduction programs, social supports, training programs, etc." — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

NDP

Develop community-based youth addiction and prevention programmes
Include harm reduction centres in community health hubs

Fitness and wellbeing

PC

Increase the income threshold for KidSport funding

"Increase the income threshold for KidSport funding to provide up to $600 per child to participate in sports and recreational activities for any household that earns under $80,000" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Increase the Fitness and Activity Tax Credit to $1K

"Increase the Fitness and Activity Tax Credit to $1,000 for registration or membership fees to artistic, cultural, recreational or physical activity programming" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

We don't have any NDP policies on Fitness and wellbeing.

Gender-affirming care

We don't have any PC policies on Gender-affirming care.

NDP

Provide and cover a full range of gender-affirming care services

Long-term care

PC

Decrease the wage gap between public and private providers

"Continue to work with the Long-term Care Associations to decrease the wage gap between public and private providers and to develop a long-term human resource strategy for community care and long-term care facilities" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Expand electronic medical records to manors and nursing homes
Legislate common standards with standardised inspections for public and private care facilities

"Make legislative amendments to ensure that public and private community care facilities and long-term care facilities move toward common standards, including uniform inspections so that Islanders are safe and receive appropriate care and support" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Add additional resources, such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists, to community and long-term care facilities

"Introduce additional resources, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other allied health providers, into community care and long-term facilities to improve the quality of life for residents" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Create a fund for recruitment and retention initiatives

"Respecting collective agreements, establish a fund to foster recruitment and retention specific to community care and long-term care facilities" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Create a capital loan programme for expanding community and long-term care programmes

"Create a capital loan program for community care and long-term care facilities to expand over the next five years" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Increase the monthly comfort allowance for residents in care

NDP

Prioritise livable wages, stable work, and health and safety for long-term and home-care workers
Improving living spaces, programming, and staffing for residents with dementia and severe impairment
Require a standard number of daily hours of care for nursing home and community care residents
Work with other governments to develop national care standards

"Work with the federal, provincial and territorial governments to develop national care standards." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09
Expand the scope of practice of personal care workers
Invest in training programmes and incentives to address staffing shortages
Push back on privatisation

Mental health

PC

Provide $250K to allow workers who work with vulnerable people to take the Brain Story Certification training

"Provide $250,000 to facilitate frontline workers — such as social workers, healthcare professionals, correctional workers, police officers and anyone who works with vulnerable Islanders — to take the Brain Story Certification training to better understand the connection between brain development to addiction and mental health" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Provide funding for a dedicated resource to provide mental health support to the Autism Society of PEI's members and their families

NDP

Provide mental health therapy through the PEI health card

"Implement mental health therapy through the PEI health card, allowing Islanders to choose the best services for their needs." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09
Improve e-health accessibility

"Improve accessibility of our province’s complicated and under-utilized e-health system." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09

Natal care

We don't have any PC policies on Natal care.

NDP

Legislate, provide certification for, and regulate integrated, publicly-funded midwifery services

Prescription drugs & pharmacare

PC

Provide insurance for health, dental, and medications for part-time, seasonal, contract, and gig workers

"Create a Portable Health Benefits Program to provide health, dental, and medication insurance for workers who may not be employed full-time, year-round, or those facing barriers to insurance coverage like seasonal workers, contract employees, and gig economy workers." — peipc.ca, 2023-03-10
Reduce the co-pay for the generic drug programme to $5
Add more drugs to the formulary covered by the government

"Continue to work with the federal government towards a PharmaCare program by adding more drugs to the formulary covered by the government" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

NDP

Work with the federal government to create a universal pharmacare programme

Prevention and treatment

We don't have any PC policies on Prevention and treatment.

NDP

Improve access to programmes that support healthy living and disease prevention
Provide comprehensive services for people with, or at risk of, HIV, including harm reduction and anonymous HIV testing

Primary care

PC

Add 16 more Patient Medical Homes by the end of 2024
Make virtual care apps like Maple free
Add 100 new full-time positions supporting medical homes
Create Mobile Primary Care Clinics
Launch walk-in clinics led by nurse practitioners
Attach all patients on the Patient Registry to a Medical Home within the next 2 years
Expand the Charlottetown and Summerside Primary Care Access Clinics, and open new ones in West Prince and Kings County
Allow people to access telehealth services at libraries and Access PEI locations
Expand online tools like Skip the Waiting Room for booking appointments

"Implement tools like Skip the Waiting Room across all areas of the healthcare system to reduce no-show appointments and provide patients with the ability to book their own appointments" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Implement a programme to connect family physicians directly with specialists, instead of having physicians make unnecessary referrals

"Implement a Virtual Hallway program to connect family physicians with specialists for consults to avoid unnecessary referrals to specialists." — peipc.ca, 2023-03-10
Revise the medical fee structure to allow family physicians to provide additional walk-in clinic services

"Modernize the medical fee structure so it is flexible enough to cover innovative arrangements for family physicians who want to provide access to primary care through walk-in clinics outside their existing patients" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Provide operating grants to establish Access Clinic Exam Spaces for pharmacists, physicians, and nurse practitioners to provide walk-in services

"Working with communities and non-profit organizations, provide operating grants to establish Access Clinic Exam Spaces for local pharmacists, physicians, nurse practitioners, and locum physicians to provide walk-in clinics for routine, non-urgent matters" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

NDP

Create "health hubs" where primary care teams would provide services

"Establish health hubs where primary care teams provide services to individuals in their communities." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09

Regional healthcare

PC

Include more healthcare professionals under the regional licensing system

"Increase our regional licensing system to include other healthcare professionals, similar to what the Atlantic provinces have done with the Atlantic Physician Registry" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Work with other Atlantic provinces to use vacant operating room times across the region for reducing surgery backlogs
Provide financial assistance to cover accommodations and meals for Islanders who have to travel out-of-province for treatment, tests, or operations

"Launch a comprehensive Medical Transportation Assistance Program to provide Islanders who have to travel out of province for medical treatment, tests or operations with financial assistance to cover accommodations and per diems for meals, in addition to existing programs to cover gas, bridge or ferry tolls" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

We don't have any NDP policies on Regional healthcare.

Rural healthcare

PC

Offer recruitment incentives for rural paramedic positions

NDP

Increase rural practicum and residency placements for medical students and graduates

"Boosting practicum and residency placements for medical students and graduates with experienced rural physicians." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09
Provide incentives for locum physicians to fill gaps in rural clinics

Senior at-home care

PC

Provide $500/year rebates for home-based medical alert systems
Increase the Seniors Safe at Home income threshold to $15,000

"Increase income thresholds for the Seniors Safe at Home program from $10,000 to $15,000" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Provide seniors living at-home with social and health services, including telehealth

"Establishing a Care-in-Place program by working with home care, community care, and long-term care facilities to provide seniors living at home with enhanced social and health supports including telehealth services available from home, connecting residents with existing community services and programs, friendly check-in calls and in-person social visits, offering intergenerational programming with students, transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping and social outings, and opening recreational programs available at long-term care facilities to seniors living in their own homes." — peipc.ca, 2023-03-09
Add 50 new positions over 2 years to provide home care services and support for patients discharged from hospitals
Increase the Seniors Home Repair programme to $8,000

"Increase income thresholds for the Seniors Home Repair program from $4,000 to $8,000" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Provide a grant up to $1,500/mo to families of seniors remaining at-home

"Create a Primary Caregiver Grant of up to $1,500 a month to support families who choose to keep their loved ones at home longer instead of going to community care" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

NDP

Prioritise livable wages, stable work, and health and safety for long-term and home-care workers
Provide OT, physio, social work, personal support, and home help in the public home care programme

"Strengthen the full-range complement of professional services in the publicly managed home care program – OT, physio, social work, personal support and home help." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09
Create a Caregiver Tax Credit

"Create a substantial Caregiver Tax Credit to provide real financial support to family caregivers." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09
Push back on privatisation

Seniors' health & services

PC

Increase the Seniors Hearing Aid Rebate to cover up to $6,000

"Doubling the Seniors Hearing Aid Rebate program to a maximum coverage of up to $6,000 instead of a maximum of $3,000 per individual" — peipc.ca, 2023-03-10
Increase the Seniors Tax Credit to $6,510, and raise the threshold to $36K
Expand the Seniors Independence Initiative to provide up to $2,500 in assistance for individuals with income up to $40K and couples with income up to $50K

"Expand the Seniors Independence Initiative to provide up to $2,500 in assistance for individuals with a household income of up to $40,000 for a single person or $50,000 for a couple" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

NDP

Create a PEI Retirement Pension Plan, with benefits indexed to inflation

Sexual and reproductive health

PC

Provide access to free contraceptive care

NDP

Invest in public education about sexuality, gender, consent, and sexual and reproductive health
Fully cover contraceptive drugs and devices
Provide comprehensive services for people with, or at risk of, HIV, including harm reduction and anonymous HIV testing

Speech and hearing

PC

Create a 12-month plan to add new speech-language pathologist and audiologist positions

"Working with the PEI Speech and Hearing Association, develop a 12-month action plan to add new Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists positions to the public system to address the current waitlist and population gaps in services" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

We don't have any NDP policies on Speech and hearing.

Staffing shortages

PC

Make on-Island tuition free for RCWs, LPNs, and Paramedics who serve in PEI for two years, and provide bursaries for LPNs, RNs, and Paramedics who study off-Island
Provide free licenses for returning healthcare workers who want to do casual or part-time work
Guarantee that students studying in healthcare will get full-time positions the day after they graduate
Legislate recognition of domestic and foreign RCW, LPN, and RN credentials
Allow foreign-trained physicians to practice under a new Associate Physician license, while being supervised by fully-licensed physicians

"Launch an Associate Physician license to allow foreign-trained physicians expedited licensing to practice to a defined scope under the supervision of other fully licensed physicians" — peipc.ca, 2023-03-09
Work with post-secondary institutions to help retrain RCWs as LPNs and LPNs as RNs, while keeping them at work
Create a recruitment and retention strategy for high vacancy positions

"Develop a recruitment and retention strategy for high vacancy positions, including lab technology, social work, psychology and therapists, by working with post-secondary partners in the region" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

NDP

Fast-track licensing of foreign-trained health professionals
Hire physician assistants to ease pressure on regional hospitals
Create a travel nurse programme

Training more staff

PC

Make on-Island tuition free for RCWs, LPNs, and Paramedics who serve in PEI for two years, and provide bursaries for LPNs, RNs, and Paramedics who study off-Island
Guarantee that students studying in healthcare will get full-time positions the day after they graduate
Start an Emergency Medicine Residency Program
Work with communities and post-secondary institutions to offer healthcare training programmes in communities across the province

"Work with communities and our post-secondary institutions to offer training programs for healthcare professionals in communities across the province, as our PC government has done for RCW training" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24
Work with post-secondary institutions to help retrain RCWs as LPNs and LPNs as RNs, while keeping them at work
Create a programme in high schools to help students transition into health-based careers

"Develop a Healthcare Career Pathway Pilot in high schools allowing students to more easily transition from high school to health-based careers." — peipc.ca, 2023-03-20

NDP

Fully-fund the new medical faculty at UPEI
Increase rural practicum and residency placements for medical students and graduates

"Boosting practicum and residency placements for medical students and graduates with experienced rural physicians." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09
Expand Holland College's paramedic training programmes