Latest news with #travelnurses
CTV News
25-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Possible fraud, staggering spending flagged in audit of N.L. travel nurse contracts
The main entrance to St. Clare's Mercy Hospital is shown in St. John's on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022. The CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly ST. JOHN'S — Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general is flagging possible fraud in a new report that calls on the provincial heath authority to overhaul how it hires and pays private travel nurse agencies. Denise Hanrahan's audit found the provincial health authority is now spending more than $400,000 per year on each so-called travel nurse hired through the agencies. Her report says the province spent more than $241 million on nurses from 11 different private agencies from the start of 2022 to the end of 2024. It says one unnamed agency billed the health authority more than $91,000 for 81 weeks of electric vehicle rentals for nurses who were not in the province. The same agency was paid more than $545,000 for nurses to use electric vehicles from a company affiliated with the agency, despite health officials rejecting its initial proposal to use the cars. The audit also found an agency charged $10,212 for a nurse to spend 48 nights at a Gander, N.L., hotel, and another charged $5,467 for one-month stay in a suite in Corner Brook. Health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador have said travel nurses are a 'necessary evil' as the province struggles with staffing shortages. However, Hanrahan found no evidence that the province has assessed how many nurses it needs, or set targets for vacancy reductions. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2025. The Canadian Press
CTV News
11-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Judge denies N.B. auditor general's request to view internal audit reports on travel nurses
A Court of King's Bench justice has denied the New Brunswick auditor general's request to view Vitalité Health Network's internal audit reports on the agency's travel nurse contracts that began in 2022. According to a written decision from Chief Justice Tracey DeWare, the auditor general sought to compel Vitalité to disclose the reports as part of its investigation into the management and use of travel nurses. The decision says Vitalité ordered an internal audit for the period spanning August 2022 to June 2023. 'The Respondent (Vitalité) asserts these internal audits confirmed the existence of deficiencies in the performance of the agency nurses' contract with one of the agencies – Canadian Health Labs ('CHL'),' the decision reads. 'The Respondent and CHL are now involved in litigation arising from this contract. 'The Respondent has refused to produce the internal audit reports on the basis they were properly subject to both a litigation and solicitor-client privilege.' Last year, the auditor general's audit found Vitalité, Horizon Health Network and the Department of Social Development spent $173 million on travel nurse contracts between Jan. 1, 2022 and Feb. 29, 2024. 'The purpose of the audit was to determine if government contracts with private nursing agencies represented good value relative to their costs,' the written decision reads. 'As part of the audit process, the Applicant (auditor general) requested from the Respondent various information and documents. The Applicant was particularly interested in governance practices, policies and billings to the agencies.' Chief Justice DeWare said the auditor general argued section 13 of the Auditor General Act allows them to access documents and information that would otherwise be private or confidential. Vitalité argued the disclosure of the internal audit reports would 'prejudice its ability to prosecute the action against CHL.' Chief Justice DeWare said the court must interpret section 13 of the act restrictively, noting that it does not refer to privileged information. 'While I appreciate the Applicant's argument, the addition of the words 'confidential and private' to section 13 indicates an expanded scope to the information which could be sought, it falls short of explicitly stating an intention to have access to 'privileged' documents,' the decision reads. 'Solicitor-client privilege and litigation privilege are foundational to our legal system. 'Section 13(a) of the Act does not grant the Auditor General the authority to require production of documents or information which are properly subject to a solicitor-client or litigation privilege.' Chief Justice DeWare dismissed the auditor general's application and said Vitalité is entitled to costs, which are fixed at $2,000. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
PCs accuse N.L. government of no longer tracking travel nurse spending
Travel nurses were back in discussion at Newfoundland and Labrador's House of Assembly on Tuesday, after the provincial government couldn't provide the cost of travel nurses working in March 2025. It was prompted by MUN critic Matt Barter, who filed an access-to-information request and shared a letter from Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services that said no records were responsive to his request. The health authority wrote, "The amount has not been calculated at this time due to other priorities within the relevant department." With the province's history of spending millions of dollars on travel nursing, PC health critic Barry Petten questioned newly ordained Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell on the department's decision to stop tracking the number of travel nurses working throughout the province. "Why is the minister giving agency nurses another blank cheque?" Petten asked. Despite not having the number at the moment, Howell says the province hasn't stopped tracking its travel nurses. "We are certainly monitoring the use of agency nurses here in Newfoundland and Labrador," she said. "We do know that the reliance on agency nurses has decreased. We've been able to fill a lot of our vacancies." Petten argued if the government is tracking those numbers, that information should be easily accessible. Spending on travel nurses gained scrutiny after a Globe and Mail report revealed the provincial government spent $35.6 million on nurses from private agencies within the span of just five months — April to August 2023 — and shelled out cash for travel nurses' training and cable bills, among other expenses. Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services spent $18.4 million on travel nursing in 2022. The following year the amount had increased to $90 million. Howell didn't know why the latest numbers weren't available, but said she would get it for Petten. He maintained the government stopped its tracking. "We have tens of millions a month being paid out, yet the minister has no idea of the exact figure and doesn't even measure it anymore, even though I'm to be told they're going to try to find it," Petten said. "They're not tracking it." The back and forth concluded with Howell citing the province's improvements in weaning off its reliance on travel nurses, adding the nurses are necessary in some parts of the province. "I, for one, will not be responsible for closing a clinic because we don't have appropriate resources if a travel nurse is available," she said. "We still have to provide services to the people of this province, but we will do so in a manner that is accountable and that is responsible." CBC News has asked Howell's department for the cost of travel nurses for March 2025.
