Indigenous Services needs to better manage its PPE stockpile and nursing shortage, says auditor general – CBC

Karen Hogan found Indigenous Services Canada adjusted its approach to better respond to needs

May 26, 2021

Indigenous Services Canada should work with remote and isolated First Nations to address a nursing shortage and review the management of its personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpile, says Canada’s auditor general.

In an audit tabled in Parliament today, Auditor General Karen Hogan looked at whether the federal department did enough to help First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and organizations respond to the pandemic by supplying enough PPE and sufficient numbers of health care workers in a timely and coordinated matter.

Although the department expanded access to its contract nurses to all Indigenous communities, created new contracts for nurses and paramedics and streamlined its hiring processes, Hogan said it was unable to meet more than half of the 963 requests for extra nurses and paramedics that it received.

Indigenous Services needs to better manage its PPE stockpile and nursing shortage, says auditor general – CBC

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