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Tim Houston’s Progressive Conservatives formed a supermajority last November which required at least two-thirds of the House of Assembly’s 55 seats. His government won 43 seats after previously holding 31, surpassing the 37-seat threshold for a supermajority.
Premier Houston ran on several platforms including economic growth and the housing crisis. On health care, Houston said his government would continue its efforts to attract and retain more workers through expanded scope of practice, more training capacity, and streamlining credentialing.
He believed his government made progress on its original commitment to “fix health care,” saying much of the heavy lifting has been done to stabilize the system, setting the stage for further improvements. Tory commitments included money to cover the cost of the shingles vaccines for seniors, offer free parking at health-care sites, create a provincial travel nurse program within the next four years to alleviate the need to use costly private agencies, and establish a menopause centre of excellence to enhance health care for women.
In 2021, Tim Houston ran on a platform to “fix health care,” saying, under his leadership he could put Nova Scotia on the path to sustainability and fix our health-care system. Government data show the Tories made some progress during their first term but fell far short of repairing a system plagued by shortages of doctors and nurses and long wait times for ambulance and emergency room services. Close to 150,000 people are still without a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
Between April 2022 and March 31, 2023, unscheduled closures of emergency rooms reached 41,923 hours, a 32 per cent increase from 2022. Most of those closures were the result of a lack of staff. Only 56 per cent of ambulance response times were within the government’s benchmark for 2024, but down from 71 per cent in the summer of 2021.
On the plus side, 196 net-new nurses were recruited in 2021 up to 692 recruited in 2024. Still, the vacancy rate for registered nursing jobs remains at approximately 15 per cent, more than double the government’s target at seven per cent.
Last fall, the Tory government spent $158,000 to distribute 480,000 pamphlets across the province outlining its latest health-care initiatives, including the province’s new YourHealthNS app and ActionForHealth.ca website. The publication applauded the hiring of 300 doctors and specialists, as well as 2,000 nurses.
The Premier also made the creation of an internal travel nurse program one of his campaign promises in the 2024 election, a program nurses unions are happy to take
credit for.
The government pamphlet also pointed to initiatives aimed at establishing a medical school in Cape Breton; increasing opportunities for nurse training; providing free tuition for paramedics; adding more long-term-care rooms; expanding a major hospital in Halifax; and fast-tracking accreditation for out-of-province doctors.
On December 12th, the Premier announced his cabinet, retaining Michelle Thompson, MLA for Antigonish as Minister of Health responsible for the Office of Health-Care Professionals Recruitment, and health-care redevelopment.
Barb Adams retains her responsibilities for seniors and long-term care and military relations. She was also named deputy premier.
On January 15th, Claudia Chender, Leader of Nova Scotia’s New Democrats and the Official Opposition, announced her Shadow Cabinet. She named Dr. Rod Wilson, newly elected MLA for Halifax Armdale, as critic for Health and Wellness, Emergency Management, and Seniors and Long-Term Care.
