Program connecting doctorless patients to care providers set to expand again

A program aimed at providing access to primary care to New Brunswickers without a family doctor or nurse practitioner is set to expand to the Saint John and Bathurst regions next week, according to deputy health minister Eric Beaulieu.

N.B. Health Link clinics for Zone 2 and Zone 6 will open on Sept. 11, making the program provincewide, he said.

Beaulieu made the announcement Tuesday at the standing committee on public accounts on the 2021-22 annual report, while under questions from Liberal MLA Rob McKee about how many people are still on the waitlist for a family doctor.

A total of 24,717 people are still registered with Patient Connect as not having a primary care provider, said Beaulieu, although it's "safe to assume" the actual number of doctorless patients is even higher since some people may not have registered.

That's down from 47,000 people in May.

N.B. Health Link gives patients without a primary care provider access to a network of family doctors and nurse practitioners through in-person, telephone and online appointments.

When people register with Health Link, they are removed from the waitlist and assigned a clinic.

More than 32K receiving services

Since N.B. Health Link launched last year in the Moncton region, 32,107 people have registered and are receiving services, while another 7,055 have registered and are awaiting services, Beaulieu said.

"As the population grows and new individuals settle into New Brunswick, the number of individuals that require a primary care provider keeps increasing for the province. So just being able to maintain the same number without a primary care provider is still a gain in terms of number of people that are covered," he said.

Beaulieu acknowledged the intent of Health Link is to be a temporary placement until a permanent primary care provider can be identified for a patient.

So far, a total of 1,853 people who went through Patient Connect have managed to secure a primary care provider, he said.

McKee asked if the department has specific targets and timelines with the provincewide roll out.

Beaulieu said the two primary goals are for every New Brunswicker to have a primary provider "with a leading physician," and access within five days.

"We don't have a deadline, I'll say it that way, but it is a measure that we monitor on a monthly basis with expected improvements every single month.

"Our initial objective, our initial primary health-care plan, was an 18-month plan and we're about six months into that."

McKee noted that when the government took over recruitment from the regional health authorities in 2020, the goal was to give every New Brunswicker a doctor within six months. "As you know, this target was not met."

When the government released its health reform plan, one of the action items was to fully address the waitlist for access to primary care by the end of September 2022. Again, the target was not met, McKee said.

"Primary care is the biggest challenge that is faced across the country, not just New Brunswick," replied Beaulieu.

Former Tory health minister Dorothy Shephard pointed out Nova Scotia has a primary care waitlist of 148,000.

N.B. Health Link "is running behind," said Shephard, who was social services minister when she resigned from cabinet in June. "It hasn't met any of the targets that we were told it could meet."

"However, it is certainly going to be one-of-a-kind throughout the country and is ensuring that people are not left without primary care."

Beaulieu agreed. "As a model, I think other jurisdictions are looking at it because it is quite promising."

Seek to recruit 120 family doctors

New Brunswick also seeks to recruit 120 family physicians this fiscal year, he told the legislature's standing committee on public accounts. He could not provide an update on its progress to date.

In 2021-22, the province recruited 45 doctors, but lost 17, for a net gain of 28.

"We've seen an increase since then in terms of number of physicians recruited and we will also see corresponding increase in the number of physicians leaving simply because of age." Beaulieu said.

As of March 31, 2022, New Brunswick had 916 active general practice family medicine doctors. They're not all necessarily full time, stressed Beaulieu. "Some may only be working one day a week, right?"

The regional distribution includes:

• Moncton region, Zone 1 — 287.
• Saint John region, Zone 2 —  182.
• Fredericton region, Zone 3 — 205.
• Edmundston region, Zone 4 — 64.
• Campbellton region, Zone 5 —  28.
• Bathurst region, Zone 6 — 98.
• Miramichi region, Zone 7 —  46.

The final six are not necessarily associated with one specific zone, Beaulieu said.