Primary care is 'crumbling,' as New Brunswickers without provider nears 180,000: medical society

New Brunswick Medical Society president Dr. Paula Keating says she’s not surprised that there’s overcrowding at the Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton, believing it’s in part due to the “crumbling” primary care system.

Emergency room physician Dr. Yogi Sehgal spoke out about the challenges health-care workers and patients are up against in the emergency department, including 10 to 12 hour wait times and patients on stretchers in hallways.

He told CTV Atlantic on any given day, most of the department is filled with people who are supposed to be in other units of the hospital, or in long-term care – making it difficult to treat people who have come to the ER for help.

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Keating says particularly in the capital region, primary health care is struggling to keep up with demand – which causes some to turn to the ER.

“It's no surprise to the New Brunswick Medical Society that this is what's happening because of our crumbling primary care system and the issues that we're seeing in our hospital emergency rooms, particularly in the capital region,” she said.

“When people don't have that access, they have very few choices other than to attend the emergency room."

She confirmed three family doctors are leaving their practices in the city, and that data shows the number of New Brunswickers waiting for a primary care provider has reached almost 180,000 – or 21 per cent of the population.

That data stems from the New Brunswick Health Council.

That’s a larger portion of the population without primary care than neighbouring Nova Scotia, who’s recent numbers show 160,000 are on the primary care provider wait list.

“That's the highest it's been according to the numbers that we've been provided with and that number continues to grow. And that's very alarming to us,” said Keating.

However, the Department of Health says through New Brunswick Health Link – a relatively new program that connects New Brunswickers who are without a family practitioner with one who can see them for an appointment in the interim – many of those so-called “orphan patients” have access to primary care.

It also says its recruitment efforts have been working.

Over the 2023-24 fiscal year, there was a net increase of 47 physicians. Their goal is to recruit 120 net new physicians this fiscal year.

“The Department of Health understands that access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner remains an issue for many New Brunswickers,” Health Minister Bruce Fitch said in an emailed statement. “This includes a focus on team-based practices, which can provide patients with improved access to their primary care practitioner.”

Keating says the province needs to also focus on retaining the physicians New Brunswick has – especially family doctors.

“Retain the people who have worked within the system, who have experience and can help mentor and provide really good solutions and share their ideas and make this work so that we can provide many more New Brunswickers with much needed primary care,” she said.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.