Higgs wants AG to investigate Vitalité travel nurse contract

Premier Blaine Higgs and other government officials weren’t aware of a three-year, $93-million contract with Canada Health Labs to provide travel nurses in Vitalité hospitals. He suggests the auditor general should consider an investigation as the government is facing criticism over the contract. Vitalité signed three different agreements with the company but the Department of Health says it was only aware of the first one. Nurses provided through the contract cost over $300 an hour, about six times the hourly rate for RNs in the province. Both health authorities said the use of the agencies were necessary to keep the health system functioning as the province grappled with staffing shortages coming out of the most restrictive part of the pandemic in 2022.