HALIFAX -- The Horizon Health network says more than 900 retirees and students have reached out, asking how they can help with the COVID-19 response at New Brunswick healthcare facilities.

Maura McKinnon, chief human resource officer for Horizon Health, says some of them will start work Monday.

“We offered letters to 100 people on Friday, so we will have 100 people coming back, either retirees or students,” said McKinnon during Monday’s presser.

Among them, Dr. Brian Wheelock, a neurosurgeon who is in his second week back to work after retiring in December.

“I’m helping other staff to screen the staff and physicians as they come in through the door,” explains Wheelock.

But Wheelock says it wasn’t a decision he made lightly.

“I certainly don’t want to get sick with this, and I really don’t want to not be sick but pass it on to somebody else. That’s a concern for anybody working in this situation,” adds Wheelock.

Horizon Health cancelled all non-urgent services about two weeks ago, and about 130 healthcare workers have been redeployed into new roles across the system. Many of them have been assigned to “staff and visitor screening points,” which have to be staffed 24/7.

“To date, over 130 staff have been deployed to new roles, and taken on these roles without hesitation, ensuring the health and safety of one another, their patients and clients, and our communities," said McKinnon. “Our community should feel confident knowing that all of our staff have the skills and the knowledge to provide the best possible care to those in need,”

McKinnon says cancer care and abortion services will continue in the province.

She wouldn’t confirm if any staff have become sick, but did say there are some in self-isolation.

McKinnon also says the provinces COVID-19 assessment centres have been working well.

“These centres have been successful at appropriately and safely managing assessments outside of the hospital, helping to reduce the volume of patients coming into emergency departments.”

McKinnon says the network is “monitoring” its supply of personal protective equipment, and that nurse educators have been called in to teach staff how to properly wear the equipment.