Hogan Court Cost - QP

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : While we're talking about spending money, Speaker, in the wake of the Auditor General's scathing report on this government's mismanagement of the Hogan Court project, the Premier stated he was focused on value for patients instead of value for money.

As an accountant, I am surprised that the Premier doesn't recognize that those are the same thing. Money doesn't grow on trees, and while this government is overspending on a hotel and throwing around millions in untendered contracts, we are seeing a record-high family doctor wait-list and massive increases in ambulance wait times and ER closures - not numbers we want to go up.

When can Nova Scotians expect a stop to questionable financial procurements and a start to fixing health care?

THE PREMIER « » : Nova Scotians have a right to expect that the care they need will be there when they need it. That's why we're making these investments. The needle is moving in a number of metrics, for sure. I hear that from Nova Scotians, I hear that from health care providers. We will continue to do that.

I would just say to the member that I won't apologize for investing in health care. I won't apologize for moving forward. What the member refers to as a hotel is actually going to be a health care facility that sees patients two years quicker than would otherwise happen.

We understand the importance of investing in health care, and we won't apologize for doing it.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Okay, reality check: In light of the huge wait times to enter long-term care, Hogan Court was pitched as a way to redirect long-term care patients out of hospital beds. It was planned to accommodate 75 to 80 - we saw lots of announcements on that - and it was going to open last month. But because this government ignored the expert report - I'll table that - and failed to assess the massive amount of renovation that would be required for this project, it's now been delayed by several months at best, will have significantly fewer beds, and will no longer be able to support high-needs patients.

Can the Premier explain why, instead of more health care faster, we are quite literally getting less health care, slower?

THE PREMIER « » : We are the Party of more, faster. Nova Scotians know their options on less, slower and they sit across the opposite aisle from us.

This facility will open two years quicker than it would have under another track and it will accommodate 68 patients. I can tell you, anyone who has lived in a hospital for months on end, years on end, knows that this will be a much more suitable, much more appropriate health care living environment. It's a good thing for Nova Scotians, and I ask the member opposite to stand with Nova Scotians on this issue.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : The Premier is right about one thing: It isn't a hotel; it was the shell of an unfinished hotel that this government spent a record $35 million on. I will table that.

This bad deal has very real consequences for Nova Scotians. The Premier is right about that too, but I differ on what those consequences are. For ill seniors who are not only footing the bill but are still waiting for adequate access to health care, the consequences are dire.

Hogan Court is now set to open by the end of 2024 - almost a full year after it was supposed to. What is unclear is just how big a price tag Hogan Court will have when it's all said and done.

Can the Premier tell us today what that price tag is and who benefits? It is certainly not the elderly Nova Scotians waiting in hospital for long-term care.

THE PREMIER « » : I completely disagree. The people who benefit from the investments this government makes are Nova Scotians, and we are not ashamed to invest in them. We will continue to invest in Nova Scotians, and we will do it in record numbers because that's what Nova Scotians have a right to expect from their government.