December 11th, 2024

High cost of travel nurses helps drive deficit forecast in New Brunswick

By The Canadian Press on August 29, 2024.

A nurse is silhouetted behind a glass panel as she tends to a patient at an Ontario hospital, on Jan. 25, 2022. An update today from the New Brunswick government shows an unexpected deficit of $27.6 million for the current fiscal year, driven in part by the high cost of travel nurses. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

FREDERICTON – An update today from the New Brunswick government shows an unexpected deficit of $27.6 million for the current fiscal year, driven in part by the high cost of travel nurses.

The figure marks a sharp reversal from the $40.9-million surplus initially forecast in the provincial budget unveiled in March.

Today’s report on the first quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year says health-care costs are projected to be $164 million more than anticipated.

The province estimates it will spend $97 million over the year just for travel nurses, mainly in the francophone Vitalité Health Network.

It says other health-care cost overruns will come from paying out overtime and training new staff.

The update says government expenses will be $13.3 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.

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