The New Brunswick health minister's suggestion the province's hospitals rent vacant operating rooms to the private heath sector is the latest in the public versus private health care debate.

The Liberal government, and the Tories before them, have been floating the issue of private health care for years.

At a Fredericton Rotary luncheon, Health Minister Mike Murphy said there's a waste in the province's hospitals — with almost half of their operating rooms empty — and it's time to trim the fat off the system and rejuvenate health care.

"Why not sell this excess capacity to the Workplace Health and Safety and Compensation Commission, for example, or to the insurance industry, or to the private sector or to our friends to the south?" Murphy suggested.

"You know, when your mother waits six months for a mammogram, or your friend lies in pain on the couch at home, month after month waiting for a hip replacement, or you see an ER filled with people who really need care but somewhere else, then your system is failing you."

Harold Moore says he agrees. His wife was told she'd have to wait months to see an orthopedic surgeon in New Brunswick. Instead, the couple went to Boston for quicker treatment.

"What really was important to us was we got the info we wanted, and we got it in a timely and efficient manner, and we were prepared to pay for that service, because we were not going to be able to get the service we were looking for here," Moore said.

Murphy says any money gained from renting space to private companies would be injected back into the public system.

The government will release the full details of its health plan at the end of the summer.