Province directs Vitalité to send nurses filling ER vacancies back to primary care

The province is directing the Francophone Health Network to send nurse practitioners it redeployed to fill ER vacancies in Campbellton back to their roles in primary care. But Vitalité is standing its ground. Well our government has directed Vitalité to have those two nurse practitioners return to their primary care practices because we know that good primary care is what prevents people from showing up in emergency rooms. That's what the premier told reporters Tuesday afternoon. It comes after a group representing nurse practitioners in New Brunswick said last weekend that nurses in the Restigouche area were being involuntarily pulled from their roles in primary care to work in Campbellton's ER. The group is worried it's putting patient safety and the legal obligations of nurse practitioners at risk. Here's what Vitalité had to say in response to the province's direction to send the nurses back. A statement sent Tuesday said the temporary redeployment of a small number of employees remains necessary to support the team while others undergo training. It said the redeployment involves two nurses who won't be asked to stay in the ER for more than three weeks and that their patients are being cared for by other health care providers in the meantime. The statement did not specify whether the network would be sending the nurses back. The premier said it's on the network to fill the ER vacancies without interfering with primary care services in the region. Treat nurse practitioners like doctors where they can do primary care and take some shifts in the ER and allow them to continue the work that they want to do while helping out in ways that suit this critical workforce for our province. She also wants Vitalité to improve its recruitment efforts overall. We have a great track record on recruiting nurses, 917 net new nurses in this province since January of 2025. If they want to lean on some of our expertise and team to get that Campbellton facility fully staffed up. CBC News asked the network for clarification on whether it will send the nurses back to their practices right away. We have not received a response. We also reached out to the nurse practitioners of New Brunswick for comment and did not hear back.