'A disaster': $64M in a single year to for-profit B.C. nursing companies amid 7-fold increase

Agency or travelling nurses were introduced to the province only a few years ago to backfill nursing vacancies, often in smaller rural hospitals and facilities. Over time, the cost to taxpayers has skyrocketed.

CTV News has obtained exclusive information painting a picture of how the private health-care sector is increasingly propping up B.C.’s public system, with billings ballooning up to seven-fold in just a few years.

Agency or travelling nurses were introduced to the province only a few years ago to backfill nursing vacancies, often in smaller rural hospitals and facilities. Over time, the cost to taxpayers has skyrocketed, going from at least $8.7 million in the 2018-19 fiscal year, to $64 million in the 2021-22 fiscal year. 

The amount varied widely depending on the health authority and its needs pre-pandemic versus now:

Vancouver Coastal spent just $25,000 on such nurses bin 2018-19, but three year later was relying on $6.2 million of services. Fraser Health went from $3 million to $11.8 million, Interior Health from $1 million versus $7.5 million, and Northern Health skyrocketed from $4.6 million to $18.8 million.

Vancouver Island Health Authority said while it had hired agency nurses in the 2018-19 fiscal year, it couldn’t compile the total, but spent a whopping $20 million by 2021-22.

“Total expenditure includes service hours plus reimbursable travel expenses, accommodation expenses, and applicable premiums, etc.,” read a footnote in the health authorities’ responses.

Earlier this month, CTV News was first to report that nurses employed by for-profit companies are propping up the health-care system to the extent that half or more of the staff on any given shift can be temp workers who don’t know the ins and outs of the facility they’re working in – and even that may be an underestimate.