The provincial government has published a core staffing review aimed at strengthening supports for front-line health-care workers and improving access to care across Newfoundland and Labrador. Commissioned in 2025 and produced by Deloitte Inc., the review examines minimum staffing levels and skill mix needed to safely meet patient care needs at six Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services (NLHS) sites.
Scope and sites covered
The study looked at staffing models for Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Personal Care Attendants across six NLHS locations:
- Community Health Mount Pearl Square
- Placentia Health Centre, including Lions Manor
- Western Long-Term Care Home (including 10 rehabilitation and 15 restorative beds)
- Labrador South Health Centre
- James Paton Memorial Regional Health Centre
- Health Sciences Centre Units 4NB and 4NA
The report also contains a guide intended to inform how the findings can be evaluated and adapted at other NLHS sites.
Recommendations and key themes
In total, the review offers 21 recommendations organised around four primary goals:
- Enabling staff to work to full value — identifying opportunities for clinicians to practise at the top of their scope.
- Stabilizing and sustaining core staffing — measures aimed at reducing turnover and ensuring baseline coverage.
- Transitioning from reactive to evidence-based forecasted staffing — introducing predictive approaches to anticipate demand and plan complements.
- Reducing structural load on staffing — changing processes and supports to lower avoidable burdens on clinical teams.
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Deloitte Inc. (preferred proponent identified July 2025) |
| Sites assessed | 6 NLHS locations (see list) |
| Recommendations | 21 |
| Deliverables | Final report and implementation guide for other sites |
Next steps and labour talks
The provincial government said it is reviewing the recommendations with frontline unions, including Registered Nurses’ Union Newfoundland and Labrador, NAPE and CUPE. Officials stated they remain committed to collaborating with those unions to implement changes intended to enhance health-care delivery across the province.
The publication of the review comes amid long-standing pressures on staffing in the province’s hospitals, long-term care homes and community sites. Provincial leaders have framed the exercise as part of a broader attempt to move from ad hoc, reactive staffing responses to an evidence-driven approach that can provide more reliable coverage for patients and more sustainable workloads for staff.
What the review aims to change on the ground
The report's recommendations are geared toward practical changes managers and clinical leads can pursue. They include revising role descriptions to allow staff to operate at full scope, redesigning rosters using predictive tools, and removing administrative or structural barriers that divert clinical time from patient care.
For communities outside St. John’s, the findings may have particular resonance. Sites such as the Labrador South Health Centre and James Paton Memorial Regional Health Centre serve rural and regional populations where staffing gaps can have an outsized impact on access to emergency and inpatient services.
How residents can follow progress
The report and accompanying guide have been released publicly through provincial channels. Health-system users and families who want to monitor implementation should track updates from NL Health Services and announcements from the provincial Department of Health, which will report on staged responses and collective bargaining outcomes tied to the recommendations.
As the province moves into consultations and potential implementation, the central questions will be how quickly evidence-based staffing can be put into practice, what supports are provided to recruit and retain workers in rural and long-term care settings, and how unions and government translate recommendations into binding workplace changes.
Those answers will determine whether the 21 recommendations deliver immediate relief for front-line workers and measurable improvements in care for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
