N.L. promises MCP coverage for private rehab centre as demand soars
Inpatient rehab referrals climbed 50 per cent in five years, wait times nearly doubled
Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister has given her word that the province's medical care plan (MCP) will cover treatments at a new private rehabilitation centre.
Vida Nova Recovery, located a 40-minute drive from St. John's, says it will nearly double the capacity of adult inpatient rehab services in the province, aiming to add 24 beds by the end of this year and 54 when the centre is fully functional.
With the province's decision to grant MCP coverage, the centre's co-founder says the people filling those beds won't have to worry about how to pay for it.
"There was only one way to do this," said Ryan Kirby. "It was never for a select few people. It was for everybody."
Kirby said the group was in discussions with the provincial government for 18 months without a firm commitment, leading to Vida Nova Recovery penning a public letter last month urging members of the House of Assembly to voice their support for the project.
The group says it heard from more than a dozen public officials, including Premier John Hogan.
Then, last Tuesday, Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell wrote a letter to Kirby and his group promising to provide MCP coverage.
Longer wait times, more referrals, flat-lined supply
Kirby says it couldn't come at a better time.
The province has seen a 50 per cent spike in demand for rehab beds in the last five years to a high of 663 referrals last year, according to statistics obtained by CBC News through access to information requests.
Median wait times at the end of each fiscal year climbed from 36 days in 2020-2021 to 69 days in 2024-2025.
In Labrador City, advocate Keith Fitzpatrick said people are being given even longer wait times.
"We have people locally who just finished paperwork and they're being told 16 weeks," he told CBC News.
"Sixteen weeks is a death sentence for a lot of people suffering addictions."
Despite the growing demand for services, Fitzpatrick said the province didn't add capacity to the public system, which mostly consists of rehab centres in Harbour Grace and Corner Brook.
A person will typically spend around five days in a detox facility, Fitzpatrick said, before being released to wait for a bed to open in a rehab centre. The longer the wait time, the more hopeless a person can feel.
"People are dying or are going to die waiting for rehab," he said.
Fitzpatrick says Vida Nova Recovery gaining MCP status could play a huge role in reducing those wait times and saving lives.
Dr. Tony Parrell, the medical director for Vida Nova Recovery, agrees.
The centre aims to bring a chain of services — detox, rehab and transitional housing — together in one place. Without wait times in between each step in the process, Parrell said they'll be providing continuous care without the usual gaps of the public system that can leave a person susceptible to relapse.
He points to one recent case he saw in an emergency room as an illustration of the strains on the current system.
"I had a guy who came in saying he was suicidal because he just wanted help, and I didn't have anywhere I could tell him to go," Parrell said. "I just said here's the waitlist, and here's Vida Nova when we open."
As for why the public should be funding services at a private clinic, Parrell said it makes economic sense.
"I see people come in all the time in the emerge, and a single emerge visit we're talking thousands and thousands of dollars," he said. "And to put that money towards treatment to prevent that relapse and overdose and death risk and all the complications related to that is going to save all of us taxpayer money."
Search for staff ongoing
The centre is actively recruiting staff, with a goal of beginning operations as early as September.
Kirby said some critics questioned how they'd find staff with such a crunch in the health-care system, but added it hasn't been a problem so far.
Melissa Wells, the centre's managing director, was busy with job interviews when CBC News paid a visit last week. She's been meeting with nurses and social workers from all walks of life, including ex-pat Newfoundlanders looking to return home, and people who have dealt with addictions firsthand.
"There's certainly no lack of talent with the people we've been meeting with," Wells said.
As for getting MCP coverage, she said it will go a long way in reducing the strain on the public system while saving lives in the process.
"Our philosophy from the beginning is no one gets left behind," she said.
"We want universal support for everyone. So the fact that we've been able to work with the government and come to an agreement to support our clients is astronomical."
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