The Department of Health and the New Brunswick Medical Society plan to co-host a provincial summit on primary health care at the end of May that could lay the groundwork for doing away with solo practices.
“Stakeholders from throughout the provincial health system will be invited to collaborate and discuss opportunities for transitioning to team-based primary care in New Brunswick,” said department spokesperson Sean Hatchard.
No other details have been provided.
About 74,000 New Brunswickers do not have a primary care provider, deputy minister Eric Beaulieu recently told the legislature’s standing committee on public accounts, although the actual number is likely higher since some people may not have registered.
Of those, roughly 54,000 people now have access to a team of primary care providers through NB Health Link, launched in 2022, while they wait for a permanent provider, he said.
The government and stakeholders continue to seek solutions as the province faces challenges with recruitment and retention and as the population continues to grow and age.
“We look forward to continued discussion with our partners as we work to tackle the ongoing challenges within the province’s health-care system,” Hatchard said in an emailed statement.
‘Physicians want this’
The medical society, which represents more than 2,000 practising, future and retired physicians in the province, supports the move toward team-based care, according to the president.
“We would like ideally, in the longer term, to have transformation and have everybody working within a primary health-care multidisciplinary team,” said Dr. Paula Keating.
“Physicians want this. We just need support, and we need to work together with the regional health authorities and Department of Health to make this happen.”
Keating said she hopes stakeholders will be able to agree at the summit “on a path going forward together to improve health care.”