John McGarry, Board Chair, Horizon Health Network

June 21, 2019 - Nearly three weeks ago, I called upon our health care partners to join together and find a solution to deal with New Brunswick's nursing shortage.

I'm disappointed to say the response has been minimal. I have not yet heard of any steps being taken to solve the problem. This is concerning.

If there is work being done, Horizon needs to be at the table. The problem cannot be fixed in silos.

This week Horizon announced the closing of six beds at Horizon's Saint John Regional Hospital due to a nursing shortage. This is on top of beds being closed across the province in Perth, Bathurst, Campbellton and Moncton.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the nursing shortage is not going to solve itself.

Unless the government and university act quickly to create new nursing seats, we are losing out on the opportunity to have more seats in September and December. The time to act is now.

We need to get all the players around the table and address this situation, before the nursing shortage affects Horizon's ability to provide safe and quality care any more than it already has.

I welcome solutions to solve the critical nursing shortage across our province.