Four retired Fredericton doctors are sharing a list of recommendations they say could improve New Brunswick's longstanding challenge of providing timely access to primary health care.

The province's health minister says she's listening, and believes some of the recommendations are already being addressed.

The report by Stephen Hart, Russell King, Ian MacDonald and Robert Tingley was released on Wednesday, and describes access to primary health care services in the province as being "in crisis."

"The number of people in our province without a family physician is a serious problem," reads the report. "The list is growing longer each year. It is time for our provincial government, the New Brunswick Medical Society, and individual physicians to address the issue and to provide solutions."

The key recommendation is to change the way physicians' offices operate to include a broader array of health-care staff such as nurses and licensed practical nurses, in addition to longer operating hours.

"I think that we have to look at a collaborative care model that would involve placing family doctors in groups and having them work with both office nurses and or nurse practitioners to increase the number of patients that each doctor and nurse group can have under their care," said Hart, who worked as a family doctor for 35 years before retiring in 2007.

With about 40,000 people on New Brunswick's Patient Connect wait list for a primary care provider, Hart said there's no way enough doctors can be hired to fill the current need.

"We have to adjust the way they deliver care in that more people have access to care, and that would utilize both family practice physicians with working with nurses and with nurse practitioners."

Hart said other recommendations include an emphasis on retaining medical students who graduate from schools in New Brunswick, creating more spots in university nursing programs, and the creation of a universal electronic medical records system.

Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said Wednesday evening she's seen the report, and believes the key recommendation is already being addressed through the government's latest health plan, released last fall.

The document says the plan "emphasizes an evolution to team-based care," and includes the creation of the New Brunswick Primary Care Network, which "will start offering appointments with a wide range of health professionals, including mental health practitioners, pharmacists and more, becoming a true interdisciplinary model."

"So we certainly believe in the collaborative care model where … a family practice model has perhaps an RN on staff, they might even use other allied professionals like dietitians or counselling therapists or social workers for mental health issues," Shephard said.

"And I believe that, you know, that a well-rounded model really provides good... health-care service to the people in the Brunswick."

Shephard said her government has already launched a model under which someone with a "pressing" health-care need can call 811, and will be directed to a physician or nurse practitioner who will see them in person or virtually by the next day at the latest.

"For me, that's step one into our primary care network that we've talked about developing for those on the patient contact list."

Last year, Shephard went on a months-long virtual tour across the province, during which she spoke to community members from urban and rural centres about their concerns regarding health-care services and changes that are needed.

Those recommendations ultimately helped shape the plan released last fall.

"We did a lot of consultation during preparation for the health plan, and I have to say that these four physicians certainly seem to be on the same thought pattern that we garnered from our consultation," she said.

"I certainly intend to follow up with these physicians. We really appreciate the work that they've done and the thoughts that they put to paper."