N.L. adds schedevac flights while minister commits to equitable health-care access

For roughly a month now, additional schedevac flights to and from communities on the Labrador coast allowed 117 more people to reach essential medical services in a timely fashion and return home without unplanned, extended wait times.

N.L. adds schedevac flights while minister commits to equitable health-care access 117 patients moved on additional flights since June 20, says Medavie CEO For roughly a month now, additional schedevac flights to and from communities on the Labrador coast allowed 117 more people to reach essential medical services in a timely fashion and return home without unplanned, extended wait times. Some of the people were in the depths of cancer treatments, others were finally coming to long-awaited specialist appointments. Schedevac flights differ from medevac flights in that they serve less-urgent patients and so can be pre-scheduled.

However, the ability to schedule has not always meant timely service, with cancellations and unserved backlogs, as Health Minister Lela Evans has acknowledged. Evans raised the issue before, while in Opposition. At a press conference at Confederation Building on Friday, the minister said the provincial government backed the new pilot program of additional flights, which started on June 20, as part of a commitment to work towards equitable health-care access for Labrador residents.

The program is scheduled to run to the end of September. From there, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services will submit a proposal to the health department, proposing changes to assure a "reliable and accessible" service, Evans said. Additions 'in the spirit of reconciliation,' Evans says Evans, who is also the minister responsible for Labrador Affairs and minister for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, noted the flights serve Inuit and one Innu community, making it not just an issue of geographic equity.

"Our government realizes how important it is, in the spirit of reconciliation, to make sure our Indigenous patients can access the same level of service as the rest of the province," she said. Former Nunatsiavut health minister Gerald Asivak sat beside Evans for the announcement on the pilot program. He was standing in for current Health and Social Development Roxanne Barbour, who was ironically kept in Nain as a result of poor weather.

Asivak said the number of flights has at times resulted in missed appointments but also long waits at the other end, with it not uncommon for a two-night trip to become a week-long event, as people simply tried to get home and back to daily life. "Not only does [the pilot program] help reduce delays and cancellations, improve patient flow and support more timely access to care, it offers North coast residents the dignity and respect they deserve," he said. The flights are delivered by Air Borealis, under contract by Medavie subsidiary Medavie Health NL.

Contractor doing 'tremendous' work, minister says Evans made a point to speak to the time Medavie staff have spent speaking to patients and community leaders along the coast. "I just want to thank Medavie for the tremendous work that they're doing," Evans said, calling the work to date on the file "tremendous." Medavie is continuing to recruit for paramedicine positions in the province.

There are other steps the company is taking, said COO Nadine McEvoy, as it ramps up on its contract for providing paramedicine and medical transport services. Some of the other measures include "enhanced clinical oversight" of activities and even changes with the retirement of older road vehicles, McEvoy said. "These flights have increased system capacity and are improving access to medical transportation and healthcare services for Labrador coastal community residents," she said.

Cassie Chisholm, the chief operating officer for the Labrador Grenfell Zone, said the health authority has created a "process improvement team," looking at shedevac and medevac services, evaluating possible new decision-making tools for staff, operating procedures and considering how to improve related communications. "We will also take advantage of functionality in our brand new information system called CorCare to coordinate appointments for people and families on the coast needing to travel for care. CorCare will help us better understand the reasons why people need to travel using schedevac and allow us to consider opportunities to bring care to people ... rather than always having people travel to access care," Chisholm said, explaining there could be periodic mobile clinics for services in higher demand, as an option.

Chisholm said the health authority is proud of the current "modernization of schedevac." There was no cost mentioned for the added flights, with the suggestion from the health authority CEO being the pilot project will help in determining costs long-term. Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador.

Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.