A System on the brink: aahp sounds alarm on dangerous healthcare mismanagement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2025
“A System on the Brink”: AAHP Sounds Alarm on Dangerous Healthcare Mismanagement
St. John’s, NL – The Association of Allied Health Professionals (AAHP) is calling for immediate and sweeping action following a series of events that, taken together, point to a healthcare system in freefall.
The recent mass resignation of internal medicine physicians at St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital, and the potential breakdown of critical emergency responses as a result, ongoing and worsening pharmacy staffing shortages and the shocking findings in the Auditor General’s recent report on nursing contracts —are not isolated events. They are symptoms of a deeper, more dangerous problem: chronic mismanagement, misguided investment, and a lack of strategic proactive planning by our healthcare leadership.
Respiratory Therapists, for example, are integral members of Code Blue teams. Yet, they had to wait until the last minute this past Monday to learn anything about the Health Authority’s after-hours coverage plans for addressing Code Blue emergencies over the Canada Day holiday given the physician resignations. Formal longer-term plans have yet to be relayed.
Meanwhile, pharmacy professionals across the province have reported staggering rates of burnout, ethical strain, and inadequate staffing. According to the recent CPNL report, 82% report high stress, 75% are at risk of burnout, and 81% have had to turn patients away due to lack of time or resources. These are not just statistics—they are lived experiences of professionals trying to serve patients in impossible conditions. Within our hospitals, pharmacists have been raising significant patient care concerns and risks as a result of ongoing vacancies, and especially in rural areas.
The Auditor General’s report only confirms what AAHP members experience every day: a healthcare system stuck in poor decision-making and significantly mismanaged spending practices. The province is now on track to spend more on private travel nurses than the entire cohort of allied health professionals in our Membership combined—all while public healthcare workers are left underpaid, undervalued, and overwhelmed.
“We are witnessing the consequences of years of short-term thinking and reactive decisions,” said Gord Piercey, AAHP President. “This is no longer a crisis—it is bordering on a catastrophe. And it is allied health professionals, alongside nurses, physicians, and other frontline staff, who are being left to pick up the pieces in real time.”
What makes this even more heartbreaking is this: our members are not just workers in the system—they are also patients, caregivers, parents, and loved ones.
They are also the ones sitting in ERs with aging parents.
They are also the ones hoping their child’s prescription can be filled.
They are also the ones waiting for a call back that never comes.
They are exhausted. They are disappointed. Many feel despair—and they are deeply afraid of what comes next.
AAHP hears from its members daily, sometimes multiple times a day, with warnings that frontline workers are approaching breaking points. Professionals questioning how much longer they can stay in a system that feels so broken.
This is a wake-up call. The future of public healthcare in Newfoundland and Labrador is hanging in the balance.
We urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and NL Health Services to:
- Acknowledge this is a systemic failure, not a series of isolated challenges.
- Take immediate, visible steps to stabilize emergency response and frontline services.
- Stop relying on costly band-aid solutions like agency outsourcing and reinvest in long-term public system capacity.
- Engage allied health professionals directly in crisis response and system planning—our members have solutions and are ready to lead change.
We cannot afford to let this continue. Lives are at risk. Morale is collapsing.
The people who hold this system together are being pushed to the edge—while still showing up every day to care for others.
The time for passive updates and vague commitments is over. We need leadership. We need investment. We need accountability. Now.
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Media Contact:
Erin Curran
erin@lupinecommunications.com
709-325-7193