Nurses' union doubles down on concerns over possible move of gynecology to Janeway

Newfoundland and Labrador's registered nurses' union is doubling down on its concern over the possible relocation of gynecology care to the Janeway children's hospital and how it could negatively impact women's health.

Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) and the nurses' union were prepared to host a joint news conference on Wednesday to criticize a plan to move gynecological services but it was cancelled after Dr. Pat Parfrey, CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, spoke with the the organizations over Zoom.

While the NLMA, which includes the province's pediatricians as members, decided to give Parfrey the benefit of the doubt, nurses' union president Yvette Coffey says she isn't willing to do the same.

In a statement, Coffey says Parfrey started the meeting by saying no plan had been finalized to move gynecology care and any information about the redevelopment of the Janeway was "just rumour."

Coffey had previously voiced her criticism of a possible move to CBC News.

In the 2025-26 provincial budget, $3 million is earmarked to begin the process of moving gynecology care from the Health Sciences Centre next door to the Janeway.

To call the move "just rumour", she says, is not representative of reality.

"What was the word used — 'There was never any plan to move gynecological services to the Janeway. It was all rumours.' And the rumours were then politicized," Coffey told CBC News.

"Not by anyone in particular, but you know, hello, me, RNU."

Earlier this week, Coffey said a move would mean some women would deliver a stillborn baby on the gynecological floor of the children's hospital.

"To be on the same unit, listening to newborn babies cry or to see children running around like in the Janeway, like, that's cruel," she said.

The province says it's taking cues from the Izaak Walton Killam Hospital (IWK) for Children in Halifax, which also offers gynecological care.

"They have women's health in the IWK children's hospital, and they've found it's worked extremely well," interim Health Minister John Haggie told reporters last week.

Coffey says the Janeway is not the IWK. 

"It's not 'apples to apples.' They actually have two separate buildings at each of those sites, not one building," she said.

The nurses' union is also concerned about the workload of some of their nurses, as the gynecological staff will be moving with the unit.

"Who is going to staff the empty beds that they left behind?" Coffey asked.

Haggie pointed to the province's nursing recruitment levels. He says 760 registered nurses were recruited in the last calendar year — Coffey questions whether those numbers will adequately fill the health-care system's gaps. 

"We're basing our staffing needs and the numbers of patients in beds, not the actual acuity of that patient, what's going on with that patient," she said.

Coffey wants to see consultation delivered with action that listens to the concerns of nurses as plans to redevelop the Janeway continue. 

"This is not a political issue. It's a women's issue. It's a children's issue."

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