Higgs sees more private-sector delivery of health care as an option

Premier Blaine Higgs says he won't rule out more private-sector delivery of health-care services in New Brunswick as he tries to address long wait times and other chronic problems in the system.

Higgs said during a news conference with three other Progressive Conservative premiers that he would "leave the door open" to other solutions.

"All options are on the table to understand what are best practices, not only throughout our country but in other countries," he said.

"What can we do differently in relation to how we deliver services, and who can do it best?"

With emergency department wait-time horror stories and multiple shutdowns of hospital services plaguing the province this summer, the premier evoked the "customer service focus" he saw during his career at Irving Oil as a model for the health care system.

Ontario recently announced it will increase the number of publicly funded surgeries taking place in private clinics.

Higgs didn't specify that as something he was looking at, but he said his meeting with the PC premiers of Ontario, Nova Scotia and P.E.I gave him the opportunity to think about other models.

"Yes, things are going to change, and yes, that could be in a different form, and I don't know what that's going to look like, but I want medical professionals to give us their best ideas, not just more of the same and hope for the best." 

Higgs also tried to quash any speculation that New Brunswickers would have to pay out of pocket for better care. 

"I want to make very clear that what we're talking about here is publicly funded health care. So it's not a case of health care not being publicly funded." 

The two opposition parties quickly denounced his comments.

"This is deeply concerning," said Liberal Leader Susan Holt.

"Our health-care system is falling apart, with ERs closing, waiting lists exploding, and health-care professionals pushed past their limits, and this government, sitting on a surplus, wants to make room for profits from the system?"

Holt vowed to "do everything I can to prevent this." 

Green Party MLA Kevin Arseneau called any privatization "a race to the bottom" that would weaken the system further and make it inaccessible to working class people.

The province ran surpluses of $408 million in 2020-21 and $487.8 million in 2021-22. A surplus of $35.2 million is projected this year.

Higgs has sent mixed signals on spending more on health care, saying earlier this month the government had already "funded the change we need" with a $168.5 million increase to the health budget in 2022-23.

Later the same day, he said investment in health is "clearly needed and we're doing just that, but the investment needs to be in services that serve … New Brunswickers in a positive way, not services that don't produce the right outcomes."