New Brunswick health officials optimistic with Ottawa's health-care offer
With more than just funding on the table from the federal government, health officials in New Brunswick say they are optimistic about what comes next.
“What we’re happy to see, and we’ll see how the next years roll out, is this increased [empathy] on results for citizens,” said Stéphane Robichaud, CEO of the New Brunswick Health Council.
Adding, “It’s not just about increasing funding, it’s not just about saying, 'The system is under pressure we’ll increase the money.' There’s a lot of talk about saying, ‘We need to specify what we will get in return.’”
He says what’s positive is this round of discussion from government brought a bigger focus on what results will come from the proposed money, instead of just focusing on the funding itself.
“There’s more talk in this round about saying, ‘How are we actually going to measure results from these investments?’ And I think it’s a sign of the times too, that people want to know if we’re going to invest more, what are we going to get in return,” he said.
He adds that New Brunswick already has a provincial health-care plan in place that can serve as a backdrop.
“The health plan already identifies primary care, needing to improve timely access, ensuring we deal with all these people that don’t have a primary care provider, surgical wait times is identified in there so making sure that we’re clear as to what the current baselines are and what are we aiming from an improvement perspective,” he said.
Meanwhile, the New Brunswick Medical Society is also calling the plan encouraging.
“It’s the first step for us to maybe change the way we work and make it better for our patients,” said president Dr. Michèle Michaud.
She points out three major areas that need immediate attention: primary care, recruitment, retention and human resource strategies and modernization of technology.
“It’s all linked together, right? So if we have a better collaborative teams, we’ll have better health environments for workers and if we want to have collaborative teams we need to have technology that can actually transport information from one place to another with the patient,” she said.
With a proposal now in place, Michaud says there’s no more time to wait.
“We need to get on with the work right now because the crisis is there and it’s not going to be solved tomorrow morning, but we need to get to work and have things done as fast as possible for our patients,” she said.
Even with the government’s offer very fresh, officials with both the medical society and the health council say they’re hopeful.
“I think we’re at a point where the external pressure’s now are forcing our hands,” said Robichaud. “We had a tour of consultation two years ago, primary care providers, family doctors, for example, in general, are very, very upfront in saying the current model is not working, it’s not sustainable so we have to find a new reality and work towards that.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs to start for Canucks in Game 1 vs. Oilers
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.