Primary care program in New Brunswick expands to Fredericton, Woodstock

NB Health Link, an online service that connects people with primary care providers, is expanding in New Brunswick.

An online service that connects people with primary care providers is expanding in New Brunswick, according to a news release from the province.

NB Health Link puts residents who don’t have a primary care provider in contact with a network of family doctors and nurse practitioners. It sets up in-person, telephone and online appointments.

“We are pleased to mark the expansion of this service into the Fredericton and Woodstock regions, providing people with primary care until they can be matched with a permanent primary care provider,” said Health Minister Bruce Fitch.

“NB Health Link is an important connection between patients and primary health care. It helps ensure New Brunswickers have access to the care they need in a timely fashion and prevents non-urgent visits to our emergency rooms.”

The province says, to date, 14,207 people have registered with the program.

NB Health Link is run in collaboration with Extra-Mural/Ambulance New Brunswick, which is managed by Medavie Health Services New Brunswick.

Once they sign up, patients can call the program or go online to be triaged to determine whether an in-person, telephone or online appointment is needed. An online health record is kept on the patient, which follows them through future appointments.

"If they don't already have a health-care provider, then they can get hooked up with Health Link and use this clinic," said Fitch. "It's a step up from a walk-in because it's ongoing service. There's availability because I believe there's three doctors in this clinic."

The province says it will adapt the program’s model to fit the needs of communities across the province. While Service New Brunswick will continue its role of contacting those on the doctor wait list in other health zones.

NB Health Link currently has clinics in Moncton, Dieppe, Dalhousie, Woodstock and Fredericton. The province says clinics in other regions are set to open later this year.

The program is designed to provide a temporary solution for people waiting for a permanent one, but it is also expected to reduce wait times in local ERs and address some of the backlog.

"811 for example is referring people straight in to us who otherwise would have taken 14 hours in an emergency room to have their sinuses looked at or their ears checked," said Dr. Matthew Pieamonte with Fredericton Health Link clinic. "So, we are already able to do some diversion"

According to Fitch, the Health Link clinics have taken the list of people waiting for a primary care provider down from 74,000 to 59,000.

However, some patients are calling the service a Band-Aid solution and say they still want a dedicated family doctor or primary care provider.

"To have a family doctor is really to develop a relationship to get good health services," said Bernadette Landry with the New Brunswick Health Coalition.