Premier Blaine Higgs says he wants to protect the identity and integrity of health professionals who are the target of legal proceedings.
In a statement delivered Saturday, the Conservative leader responded to the lawsuit filed against Horizon Health Network and two nursing staff members by the family of a man who died in the emergency room waiting room at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital.
Darrell Mesheau, 78, passed away on July 12, 2022 after spending approximately seven hours in the waiting room of the Fredericton Hospital Centre. His death was attributed to heart failure.
“Our government strongly opposes the legal tactic of naming nurses in the lawsuit against Horizon Health Network,” Higgs said in his statement.
“The investigation found no evidence of negligence on the part of the nursing staff in question. To suggest otherwise by naming them in the lawsuit is unacceptable, and I encourage the plaintiff’s lawyers to reconsider this strategy,” the Prime Minister added.
The lawsuit, filed in July in the Court of King’s Bench, specifically targets the Horizon Health Network and two nurses on duty at the time of the death, April Knowles and Danielle Othen.
The Premier said an inquest into Mr. Mesheau’s death has highlighted important changes that need to be made to the health care system and that efforts are underway to improve health care at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital and across New Brunswick.
“I want all nurses to know that the New Brunswick government pays 100 per cent of all legal fees for nurses who work as employees of a regional health authority. In the unlikely event that a judgment is rendered against them, it is the government that pays, not the nurses,” Blaine Higgs said in his statement.
The government should introduce legislation to provide greater protection for health professionals so that they cannot be named in legal proceedings.
The prime minister says he has asked his health minister to begin discussions with union leaders to get thoughtful input on how to achieve the goal of protecting front-line health care providers from legal risk.
