Physician assistant pilot program at Fredericton hospital made permanent

Physician assistants will now be a permanent fixture at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton after a pilot program has been deemed successful.

Health Minister Bruce Fitch made the announcement Monday, saying the physician assistants have played a key role in reducing wait times, seeing about 7,000 patients in the past year.

There are currently three physician assistants at the hospital with two casual PAs who can pick up shifts, but Horizon plans to add more soon across the province.

"That is a significant number of people to see going through the emergency room," Fitch said, adding that if they were not helping, "it would have been a lot worse."

He said PAs can conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, develop treatment plans, and provide preventative health care. 

"All important work, they cover a lot of aspects and tick a lot of boxes," Fitch said.

Their role, limited to the emergency department, has been in the pilot phase for 12 years.

WATCH | Pilot project green lit to become permanent at Chalmers Hospital:

Physician assistants become permanent fixture at Chalmers Hospital

1 year ago

Duration 0:44

A long-standing pilot project aimed at improving access to primary care at the Fredericton hospital has been given permanent status.

When asked why it has taken so long for the program to expand, Fitch said he was not involved when the program began but recently learned more about physician assistants.

"I think it's sort of a surprise to other people too ... and they're an integral part of the system in what they can do," he said.

Fitch could not give details on how many PAs will be added and for which hospitals, but said the budgeting for next year will begin in January and he plans to submit a proposal for more PAs. 

Working PA hopes program will expand

"I think honestly it took this long to sort of get people comfortable with the idea, it is kind of a foreign concept," said physician assistant Kevin Dickson in an interview with reporters after the announcement.

He said there's only about 1,000 PAs across Canada, "it is relatively new in the Maritimes, but it is starting to catch fire."

Dickson did say he thought the process to expand beyond the pilot program was long, but because there are only three PAs, it has taken time to build trust and demonstrate their success. 

He said he could imagine seeing one or two PAs for each emergency room in the province, but that the program could also expand beyond those departments.

Educational programs for physician assistants are becoming more common in Canada, he said, and Dalhousie will be starting their own school in January. Dickson said an average PA salary would be somewhere between that of a registered nurse and a nurse practitioner — or between $100,000 and $115,000, according to Horizon.

If salaries are competitive enough, recruitment can even be done in the United States, Dickson said, adding that an American PA will be joining the team in Fredericton in the coming months.

"This is about the patients, and the patients have needs, they're not being met by the current workforce of physicians, nurse practitioners," Dickson said, adding that it's a numbers problem, not an individual skill issue with any physician. 

"We need more skilled providers and I'm quite passionate about physician assistants because it's basically undeveloped. There's a huge potential of gaining extra workers to look after Canadians."