New Brunswick’s new minister of health says Premier Susan Holt’s Liberal government will start to fix the province’s ailing health-care system through improved accessibility.
“That’s our our primary task, I would say,” said Dr. John Dornan.
“We have a great health-care system, but if you don’t have access to the system, then it’s of little value.”
Holt’s pledge to open “at least” 30 collaborative health-care clinics, with doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, psychologists, physiotherapists, pharmacists and other professionals working together either under one roof or virtually, will play a key role in that, he said.
More than 20 per cent of New Brunswickers do not have a permanent family doctor or nurse practitioner, according to the New Brunswick Health Council’s latest survey on primary care. And among those who do, only about 31 per cent can get an appointment with within five days.
A CEO of Horizon Health before he was fired by the former government, Dr. John Dornan inherits a struggling health-care system as New Brunswick’s new health minister. He sat down with the CBC’s Clare Mackenzie to talk about what’s not working and what he plans to do about it.
As a result, many people resort to emergency departments.
“This is something that we need to do as soon as is possible,” said Dornan.
Long ER waits ‘disrespectful’
It’s “disrespectful when we have people waiting in the emergency department 10, 12, 15 hours that have an acute medical problem or an acute mental-health problem, or perhaps are senior,” he said.
“That’s not optimal care,” and people sometimes get sicker.
Some of the new government’s other plans include decreasing the number of seniors living in hospitals awaiting long-term care placement, increasing services to help seniors stay in their homes longer, building up to 16 new nursing homes, and assessing mental-health patients in ERs more quickly.
Fired CEO feels he has ‘head start’ as minister
Dornan, who was fired as the CEO of Horizon Health Network in 2022 and won a record-breaking $2 million unjust dismissal payout from the province, says he’s up to the task.
He believes his experience and inside knowledge of the system give him an advantage over previous health ministers — even those who were “quick studies.”
“I will have to learn lots as well, but I do have a bit of a head start,” said Dornan, noting he has worked with family doctors, as well as within hospitals, where he served as the temporary head of an emergency department and the head of an intensive care unit.
‘Real changes’ within months
The Department of Health has been working “the better part of this week and moving forward” to get the collaborative care clinics up and running, said Dornan. This includes discussions with the New Brunswick Medical Society, the New Brunswick Nurses Union and other health-care provider groups, he said.
At least 10 of those clinics will be in place in 2025, Holt recently told CBC News.
Asked how long it will take before people see a decrease in wait times to get a primary care provider, a referral to a specialist, or a diagnostic test, such as an MRI, Dornan said he’s hopeful there will be “real changes” within a few months, particularly for those working in the system.
A lot of existing clinics are already very close to being “collaborative clinics,” with the necessary professionals and space, he said.
The department just needs to assist with certain elements, such as reducing the paper work and providing an electronic medical records system.
New Brunswickers shouldn’t have to worry about whether they’re going to be able to see the right person at the right place at the right time when they’re sick, said Dornan.
Lack of access could also keep people from moving to New Brunswick, a factor people could weigh when considering whether to come to the province, he suggested.
Collaborative model attractive to graduates
Although Dornan acknowledged staffing the collaborative care clinics will still be challenge, given the shortage of health-care providers, he believes the model will help with recruitment, by making New Brunswick an attractive place to work.
As it stands, many medical school graduates leave the province or aren’t going into primary care “because they’re worried what that might entail.”
But under a collaborative care model, they can go on vacation, take a holiday, have a child, or retire and know their patients will still be cared for, he said.
“We need to be able to give those graduates what they want for their quality of life while at the same time providing care to New Brunswickers.”
New nursing homes for ‘at least’ 1,000 people
To decrease the number of hospital beds occupied by seniors awaiting placement, Dornan said his department will work with Social Development to reduce the assessment time.
Horizon Health has 652 acute care beds in network hospitals currently being used by these so-called alternate level of care, or ALC, patients. That’s nearly 40 per cent of its beds, according to figures presented at Thursday’s board meeting.
Those people will still need a place to go, he said, so the government will build new nursing homes.
“There’s probably 12 to 16 opportunities to build nursing homes, and this is throughout the province, that will help house at least 1,000 people.”
Dornan did not provide any other details, only that the new homes will come in the “not too distant future.”
In addition, to help prevent seniors from ending up in hospitals, the department will provide more services to enable them to stay in their homes comfortably longer, he said, citing meals, medications and social workers as examples.
Who do mental-health patients need to see and when
To reduce ER wait times for people experiencing a mental-health crisis, Dornan said the plan is to assess people more quickly.
“A determination would be made if they would need to see a psychiatrist in a short period of time and be admitted to hospital, or perhaps see a psychiatrist or a psychologist or a support person, a counsellor, within a few days,” he said.
“I think that what people don’t enjoy … not knowing what’s coming next — when they will get in, when they will see somebody.
“If we present people with a reasonable plan, then people are going to be more satisfied and that helps right off the bat with mental-health issues.”
