From the PC Caucus website:
HALIFAX, NS – Progressive Conservative Health and Wellness critic Chris d’Entremont says hospitals were left waiting while the NDP scrambled to find $7 million for needed equipment.
“The NDP have mismanaged this file from the start,” said d’Entremont. “Our District Health Authorities have been waiting in the dark for months to hear what pieces of equipment government would be allocating them this year because the government didn’t budget for them in April.”
In the 2011/12 budget estimates, Premier Dexter scrapped the $20 million budget for health equipment, allocating zero dollars.
“This government bragged of a surplus before introducing their 2011/12 budget so I was certainly shocked that there wasn’t a dime allocated to ensuring essential equipment at Nova Scotia’s hospitals remains in service,” said d’Entremont.
When PC leader Jamie Baillie first raised this issue in May, the NDP claimed hospitals would be able to fund equipment purchases out of their operating grants.
d’Entremont said today’s reversal shows Baillie was right when he said the NDP are poor managers of the public purse.
“The announcement today of $7 million for equipment at Capital and Annapolis Valley Health is proof they’ve spent the last few months scrambling to find the money needed to keep patients safe and our hospitals operable,” concluded d’Entremont.
www.pccaucus.ns.ca
