Union cries foul over apparent lack of sanctions against managers who rented to travel nurses

Yvette Coffey demands answers over whether health-care managers faced any consequences for renting homes to travel nurses. (Mark Quinn/CBC)

Health authority officials in Newfoundland and Labrador are under fire for renting homes to travel nurses under their management. Now, the nurses union wants to know if they were disciplined.

Health Minister John Hogan said in the House of Assembly Wednesday that managers were wrongfully profiting from those rentals. However, he said, there's a difference between breaching an ethics code and the criminal code.

That statement was less than satisfactory to Yvette Coffey, president of the Registered Nurses' Union of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"I'm flabbergasted. I am frustrated beyond with what NLHS has been doing," Coffey told CBC News Thursday.

The PC opposition shared Coffey's frustration, and echoed her questions.

In the House of Assembly on Thursday, health critic Barry Petten asked Hogan how many leases between travel nurses and health authority officials were terminated, and what the consequences were for profiting.

WATCH | 'This is public money,' says MHA Barry Petten: 

It was left unanswered.

When asked by reporters if NLHS did anything beyond terminating leases, Hogan said he did not know.

"That's outrageous," said Petten, when asked about Hogan's response. "He should know the answer. He knows which leases to cancel. So, we got a report in August, therefore you know which staff owned these homes."

Petten says someone has the answer, and the public deserves to hear it.

Questions and consequences

Coffey says if a nurse behaved unethically, the consequence would be swift, and they would be known to the union.

Health Minister John Hogan says the proper action was taken, but will not say how many leases were terminated. (Mark Quinn/CBC)

"If I breach my code of ethics, I am brought before the college, a regulatory body. I am also disciplined by the health authority," said Coffey. "I run the risk of losing my licence and being able to practice as a registered nurse.

"What are the consequences for the people that had these lease agreements? Where's the transparency and who are they and where were they?"

The Office of the Auditor General, which was informed of the lease terminations, is expected to report its findings on the matter in the coming months.

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