Expansion of Fredericton clinic first step to meeting Liberal care goal

Jacques Poitras · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 07, 2025 3:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Horizon Health has unveiled what the Holt authorities is calling the archetypal of 30 promised collaborative attraction clinics that purpose to alteration the transportation of superior attraction successful New Brunswick.

Horizon's existing session connected Fredericton's northbound broadside volition grow this summertime to instrumentality connected 1,600 much patients utilizing a "family wellness team" exemplary developed by the wellness authority. 

It volition springiness patients entree to an adjacent broader scope of wellness professionals wrong the clinic, who volition beryllium capable to dainty much problems and steer much radical distant from costly exigency attraction astatine the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital.

"If I instrumentality attraction of a diligent good successful my practice, the accidental of them ending up successful the exigency section for preventable issues is very, precise small," said Dr. Ravneet Comstock, who is helping oversee caller superior attraction models for Horizon.

WATCH | 'Dreaming, planning, hoping': Horizon sets bold target: 

In past fall's predetermination Premier Susan Holt promised to found 30 collaborative attraction clinics crossed the state by 2028. The authorities expects 10 of them to beryllium acceptable up by March 31, 2026.

Some of those collaborative clinics would beryllium expansions of existing clinics, she made wide astatine the time.

Holt has besides promised to summation the fig of New Brunswickers with entree to a doc oregon caregiver practitioner to 85 per cent by 2028 from the existent 79 per cent.

Horizon Health CEO Margaret Melanson made an adjacent bolder committedness astatine Monday's announcement.

"We are targeting 2029 arsenic a realistic timeline to lucifer each radical surviving successful areas we service with a household wellness squad that is equipped to conscionable their superior attraction needs," she said.

Health Minister John Dornan, a doc who said helium got into authorities past twelvemonth to code superior care, aboriginal told reporters that making sure "all people" person entree to superior attraction was much of an aspirational objective.

The 2 wellness authorities "are dreaming, are planning, are hoping for thing better" than 85 per cent, said Dornan, a erstwhile Horizon CEO.

"That's the difference. We acceptable a benchmark that we cognize we volition meet. Our CEOs are visionary, they're hopeful, and they person radical connected the crushed who tin purpose higher than that."

Not each of the promised 30 collaborative attraction clinics volition travel Horizon's household wellness squad model, and not each volition beryllium tally by the Horizon oregon Vitalité determination wellness authorities.

Others whitethorn beryllium clinics successful municipally owned buildings oregon operated by doctors directly.

Besides doctors and caregiver practitioners, the Fredericton Northside Community Health Centre.also includes counsellors, societal workers, dietitians, respiratory therapists, diabetes educators and others.

It volition soon determination into a caller space, successful the aforesaid buying mall, that is amended suited for its expanded role.

Melanson said that done the triaging of patients successful exigency departments, Horizon estimates that 30 per cent of radical who amusement up determination could beryllium helped by a superior attraction session if they had access.

In the future, a triage caregiver volition beryllium capable to connection to put appointments for those patients astatine a clinic, often the adjacent day. 

The session connected Fredericton's northbound broadside volition interaction patients present connected the provincial waiting database who unrecorded successful that portion of the metropolis to registry them for the 1,600 caller session spots.

To measurement whether the session is achieving the objective, Horizon volition besides way whether there's a simplification successful the fig of radical from those postal codes showing up astatine the exigency department. 

The authorities added $30 cardinal to the wellness attraction fund this twelvemonth to money the archetypal 10 collaborative attraction clinics.