🚨 Surgical Wait Times in New Brunswick – Another “Review” Announced

The New Brunswick government says it is reviewing the province’s operating room system in an effort to “optimize” resources and reduce surgical wait times.

According to Health Minister John Dornan, the Department of Health and the province’s two health authorities are examining how operating rooms are currently used and looking for ways to improve scheduling, extend hours, and measure efficiency.

A final report is expected in the coming months and is supposed to provide a roadmap to reduce the growing surgical backlog.

At the same time, the New Brunswick Health Council says the use of private surgical clinics should be considered on a case-by-case basis. CEO Stéphane Robichaud noted that some private contracts — such as cataract surgeries — appear to have helped reduce wait times in recent years.

However, there are still major questions about why solutions already available are not being used.

For example, East Coast Surgical Centre has stated publicly that it has the capacity to perform additional publicly funded procedures, including hernia repairs, hip and knee surgeries, soft-tissue repairs, and pediatric dental surgeries. Yet the clinic says it has struggled to even get a meeting with government officials.

💬 So here is the real question for New Brunswickers:

Why are patients waiting months — sometimes years — for surgery while operating rooms sit idle in the evenings, weekends, or outside the hospital system?

Reviews and reports are important, but people living in pain today need action — not another study that takes months to complete.

New Brunswick families deserve a healthcare system that uses every available resource to get patients treated faster.

Because behind every “wait time statistic” is a real person waiting for relief.

Prince Edward Island’s healthcare system is facing yet another major blow.

Three physicians have recently announced they are leaving, closing, or retiring from their practices, leaving thousands of patients without a family doctor. One of them, Heather Austin, alone cares for nearly 1,400 patients who will soon need to find new care.

According to Health PEI, more than 33,000 Islanders are already on the waitlist for a family doctor or nurse practitioner. That means these latest departures will add even more pressure to a system that is already stretched to its limits.

Doctors say the issue is not just compensation — it’s how the system is being run.

Physicians raised serious concerns about the rollout of the Physician Services Agreement, which included expectations such as 24 patient appointments per day and patient panels as high as 1,600 people per doctor.

Many doctors argue those targets fail to account for the reality of modern family medicine, where patients often require more time due to complex medical conditions, mental health issues, and an aging population.

Several physicians have said they feel unheard, disrespected, and undervalued by health system leadership. Letters and concerns raised through official channels, they say, have gone largely unanswered.

The result?

Doctors are leaving.

While this story is unfolding in Prince Edward Island, the warning signs are familiar across Atlantic Canada.

Healthcare workers are burning out, systems are becoming more centralized and bureaucratic, and the people who suffer the most are patients left without access to primary care.

Healthcare systems cannot function without the people who actually deliver care. When governments and health authorities fail to listen to frontline physicians, nurses, and staff, the consequences become painfully clear.

Islanders deserve better. Canadians deserve better.

The question now is: Will governments listen before more doctors walk away?

#HealthcareCrisis #FamilyDoctors #PEI #CanadianHealthcare #HealthcareReform #PatientsFirst

Horizon Health Network has extended its contract with Teladoc Health Canada until September for virtual ER coverage at Charlotte County Hospital and Grand Manan Hospital.

According to Horizon, the pilot project produced “promising” results. Officials say 100% of Grand Manan patients were assessed by a physician after-hours with virtual coverage, compared to 60% without it.

But not everyone agrees this is the right direction.

The New Brunswick Medical Society has previously argued that virtual ER care is a poor use of government money and may be drawing doctors away from in-person practice in New Brunswick.

Meanwhile, virtual care is still being floated as a possible solution for overnight ER closures at Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital under Vitalité Health Network.

Right now, Stella-Maris patients are only admitted to the ER until 5 p.m., with overnight closures forcing residents to travel to Moncton or Miramichi. Acute care beds have also been closed for more than two years, with patients redirected to the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre.

Vitalité says restoring 24-hour ER services depends on recruiting enough doctors. No firm timeline has been provided.

Residents like Linda Renaud have organized petitions, protests, and letter-writing campaigns — and say they feel left in the dark.

Here’s the bigger question:

Are we building a healthcare system based on permanent virtual substitutions…

or are we solving the root problem — doctor recruitment, retention, and rural support?

Virtual care may help in limited situations. But it cannot replace a fully staffed emergency department with local physicians and acute care beds.

Rural New Brunswickers deserve certainty.

They deserve transparency.

And they deserve real, sustainable emergency care — not temporary fixes.

Will Slower Population Growth in 2026–2027 Hurt New Brunswick’s Future?

New Brunswick is facing what experts are calling a “demographic time bomb.”

A new analysis from the Parliamentary Budget Officer shows that Canada’s total population will not grow in 2026, with only modest growth of 0.3% expected in 2027.

Long-term projections suggest population growth will stabilize around 0.8% annually — well below the historic 1.1% average.

For New Brunswick, the news is even more concerning.

📉 In the last three months of 2025, our province lost 1,052 people, according to Statistics Canada.

📉 Atlantic Canada as a whole lost nearly 2,800 residents in that same period — a dramatic reversal from the strong growth seen during 2021–2024.

Former NB chief economist David Campbell warns that some communities are in serious trouble. Bathurst, for example, has just 10.1% of its population under age 15 — one of the lowest youth ratios in the country.

He called it a “five-alarm fire,” warning that without attracting young families, some communities could age rapidly over the next 20 years.

The federal government’s new immigration plan caps permanent residents at 380,000 annually and significantly reduces temporary residents and international students.

The PBO confirms these changes will cause non-permanent resident numbers to decline sharply from their 2024 peak.

Meanwhile:

• NB’s population grew only 0.4% annually between 1972 and 2015 — far below the national average.

• Interprovincial migration has flipped negative again, with 921 more people leaving NB than arriving in Q3 2025.

• Employment growth has been concentrated in public administration, health, and education — sectors now facing fiscal pressure.

Meeting Update:

I had an excellent meeting with Rob Weir, MLA for Riverview, yesterday. We spent about an hour and a half discussing healthcare and the many challenges facing New Brunswick. Rob is well informed on the key issues affecting our province’s healthcare system, and it was encouraging to have such an open and thoughtful conversation.

Being a healthcare advocate and listening closely to the members of NB Broken HealthCare, I certainly have strong opinions about our system and the changes that are urgently needed. Those voices matter, and they shape the work I continue to do.

Speaking with a member of government also gave me the opportunity to see certain issues from a different perspective and to better understand the complexities behind the decisions being made. Dialogue like this is important if we truly want meaningful improvements in healthcare for all New Brunswickers. 

Penalized for Seeking Care Outside New Brunswick.

18,000 New Brunswickers are waiting for surgery.

That’s the number confirmed by Health Minister John Dornan.

One of them was Justin Dawe.

After being told he would wait nine months just to see a surgeon — followed by potentially another year for hip replacement surgery — Dawe made a difficult decision. In January, he paid more than $30,000 out of pocket for private surgery at a Montreal clinic.

The surgery was successful.

But when he returned home to New Brunswick, he developed a serious complication — a blood clot in his lung. Suddenly, he was back in the public system.

And that’s where things fell apart.

Dawe says he struggled to access proper follow-up care and felt caught between two systems — told to refer back to his Montreal surgeon while dealing with a medical emergency here at home.

Meanwhile, government data shows:

• 18,000 people are currently waiting for surgery in New Brunswick

• 1,568 hip surgeries were completed last year

• 90% were done within 397 days — but only after patients met with a surgeon

That initial consult can take many months.

This isn’t just about private vs. public care.

It’s about what happens when people are left in pain for months… when livelihoods are on the line… when savings accounts are drained… and when follow-up care becomes unclear.

No one should feel forced to empty their life savings to get basic surgery.

No one should feel “in limbo” after seeking care.

Behind the 18,000-person waitlist are real people. Real families. Real consequences.

New Brunswickers deserve timely surgery — and continuity of care — without having to leave the province or risk falling through the cracks. 

Paying More. Waiting Longer.

The average Canadian family of four now pays over $19,000 a year in taxes toward health care — nearly double what families paid in 1997 (adjusted for inflation).

Health-care costs have risen faster than housing, food, and income.

Yet wait times have worsened dramatically.

In 1997, the median wait from GP referral to treatment was 11.9 weeks.
Today, it’s 28.6 weeks — almost 2.5 times longer.

Meanwhile, countries like Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Australia maintain universal systems but allow more flexibility between public and private providers — and often see shorter waits.

This isn’t about ending universal care.
It’s about improving access and outcomes.

Canadians deserve better value — and faster care.

What do you think?

📢 Permanent MRI Now Installed at Upper River Valley Hospital

There’s finally some positive news out of western New Brunswick.

After years of sharing equipment, the Upper River Valley Hospital (URVH) in Waterville now has its own permanent MRI machine — ending 16 years of relying on shared access with Campbellton.

The new MRI, housed in a specially built facility, is expected to more than double capacity, increasing scans from about 1,700 per year to an estimated 3,400. That means shorter wait times and less travel for patients across the Upper River Valley and surrounding communities.

This project was largely made possible by a $3-million community fundraising campaign led by the Upper River Valley Hospital Foundation — a reminder that when government systems struggle, local communities often step up.

But let’s not forget the bigger picture.

URVH has been under scrutiny in recent months due to staffing shortages, centralized management decisions, and concerns about losing core services. With only one surgeon at one point, many residents questioned the hospital’s long-term stability.

Health Minister John Dornan recently met with local officials and reaffirmed that the Waterville hospital will remain a full-service acute-care facility, including inpatient, surgical, obstetrical, and emergency services.

This MRI is a much-needed win.

The real question now is:
Will we see the same urgency when it comes to staffing, retention, and protecting frontline services across New Brunswick?

Because equipment matters — but people matter more.

What About Healthcare Funding???? 

UPDATE: Irving Paper to Receive Up to $45 Million in Holt Government Tariff Relief Funds

The Holt government is allocating up to $45 million to Irving Paper Ltd. as part of a $54.3-million funding package for seven New Brunswick companies through Opportunities NB.

The funding is contingent on job targets, according to Minister Luke Randall, and will be distributed over the next three years.

Irving Paper — the province’s only remaining paper mill — cut 140 jobs last year, citing soaring electricity costs and management issues at NB Power. At the time, company officials suggested subsidies were not the long-term solution to rising power bills affecting both industry and residents.

Now, the mill stands to receive the largest portion of relief funds originally announced as part of Premier Susan Holt’s $162-million tariff response package. That broader package was introduced following sweeping tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canadian exports.

The government says the goal is to stabilize export-intensive industries and protect jobs. However, details on exactly how Irving Paper will spend the public funds have not yet been disclosed.

Other recipients include Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd. (Cooke Aquaculture), which will receive up to $3.8 million in conditionally repayable assistance to modernize operations.

With record deficits and rising living costs, every dollar of public funding matters.New Brunswickers deserve clarity, accountability, and measurable results. 

COMMUNITY CONCERNS RAISED OVER KINGSTON PENINSULA TREATMENT CENTRE

Roughly 120 residents gathered in Grand Bay–Westfield this week to voice concerns about a new 50-bed substance-use treatment facility planned for the Kingston Peninsula.

The in-patient centre, operated by Edgewood Health Network, is set to open next summer at the current Eagle’s Eye View Cottages site in Carters Point. The publicly funded facility will house 50 voluntary patients and employ approximately 75 staff.

While provincial officials say the centre is needed to address addiction and mental health challenges, many residents expressed frustration over what they describe as a lack of early consultation.

Premier Susan Holt previously stated discussions could only move forward once contracts were finalized.

Justice and Addictions Minister Rob McKee told residents that confidentiality during the RFP process limited earlier engagement.

But for many in attendance, that explanation wasn’t enough.

Key concerns raised:

• Water supply: Many homes in the area rely on private wells. Residents worry that adding 50 patients and 75 staff could strain an already sensitive water table, especially during dry summer months.

• Land use and environmental impact: Questions were raised about long-term sustainability and infrastructure capacity.

• Safety: Some residents expressed fears about proximity to their homes and grandchildren, despite assurances that the facility will only accept voluntary patients who pass a strict screening process and have no violent or child-related charges.

Not everyone opposed the project. Some attendees emphasized that addiction treatment facilities are necessary and warned against stigma toward people seeking help.

The centre will operate drug- and alcohol-free and, according to its leadership, none of Edgewood’s facilities across Canada require on-site security.

This issue highlights a difficult balance:

New Brunswick clearly needs expanded addiction treatment services.

At the same time, communities expect transparency, consultation, and clear environmental safeguards before projects move forward.

Residents were promised additional information and updated documentation addressing concerns.

This conversation is far from over.

What do you think — is this the right location, or should the province reconsider where this facility is built?

Vitalité CEO: We Could Expand Virtual Care — But No One Asked Us

At last week’s Public Accounts Committee, Vitalité Health Network CEO Dr. France Desrosiers said the network already has the ability to expand virtual care — and could do so at a lower cost — but was never asked before the province issued an RFP.

About 20% of Vitalité visits already happen virtually.

Meanwhile, Horizon Health Network confirmed it was not involved in the RFP process and learned about the new provider through the media.

As of April 1, Foundever is expected to replace eVisitNB, the New Brunswick-based service created during COVID.

The cost to taxpayers hasn’t been disclosed.

If our public system already has the infrastructure and expertise — why wasn’t it asked first?

Transparency matters.

More Than 700 Nursing & PSW Jobs Could Be Cut in Ottawa

A new report from the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) is warning that more than 9,000 nursing and personal support worker (PSW) positions could be cut across Ontario by 2027–28 — including over 700 jobs in Ottawa alone.

The union says hospitals have been told by the Government of Ontario to expect only a 2% annual funding increase through 2027–28.

According to the report’s author, that’s far below what’s needed to maintain current services.

The projections also include:

• Nearly 2,400 hospital bed closures province-wide

• Increased hallway medicine

• Longer ER wait times

• Growing surgical backlogs

OCHU President Michael Hurley says hospitals once had $2 billion in working capital — now they’re running deficits. The union is calling for:

6,200 additional staffed beds

$3.2 billion in core funding increases

Funding tied to inflation (estimated at 6% annually)

The Ontario Ministry of Health says the province is investing $91.5 billion in health care this year, but critics argue that hospital funding specifically isn’t keeping pace with real costs.

Concerns are also being raised about the expansion of publicly funded private surgical clinics, with some fearing it could further strain public hospitals.

This isn’t just about numbers on a page. It’s about nurses at the bedside. It’s about PSWs caring for seniors. It’s about patients waiting in ER hallways.

If funding doesn’t match the real cost of delivering care, something has to give — and too often, it’s frontline staff and patients.

Ontario was promised an end to hallway medicine in 2018. Are we moving closer to that goal — or further away?

#OntarioHealthcare #Ottawa #HospitalFunding #Nurses #PSWs #HallwayMedicine #HealthcareCrisis

🚨 88% of P.E.I. Nurses Report Workplace Violence 🚨

A new survey from the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions reveals a troubling reality for healthcare workers in Prince Edward Island.

According to the survey, 88% of nurses on P.E.I. experienced workplace violence or harassment in the past year. Even more concerning, 36% reported five or more incidents, and 51% did not report their most recent experience.

Kim Sears, president of the P.E.I. Nurses' Union, says many nurses feel that reporting incidents leads to little or no meaningful change.

“We’re here to take care of patients and Islanders, not absorb the violence and frustration in the system.”

While Health P.E.I. states it has a Violence Prevention Policy and tracks reported incidents, the union argues that underreporting remains a major issue — and accountability is rare.

Even federal changes like Bill C-3, which amended the Criminal Code to protect healthcare workers from intimidation and violence, have not resulted in the meaningful change nurses were promised.

The union is calling for:
✔️ System-wide enhanced security
✔️ Swipe-card access and safety cameras
✔️ Personal alarms for staff
✔️ Specialized safety training
✔️ Improved staffing ratios

Sears says violence in healthcare is not isolated — it’s systemic. Overcapacity, staffing shortages, and lack of access to primary care are fueling frustration that too often lands on frontline workers.

Healthcare workers deserve safe workplaces. Period.

#Healthcare #Nurses #PEI #WorkplaceSafety #HealthcareCrisis

🚨 N.B. Regional Hospitals Becoming “Nursing Homes,” Says Horizon CEO 🚨

The CEO of Horizon Health Network, Margaret Melanson, is sounding the alarm on New Brunswick’s hospital crisis and this time she is correct.

Speaking this week, Melanson said regional acute care hospitals are at risk of turning into “regional nursing homes” — with 40% of hospital beds now occupied by alternate-level-of-care (ALC) patients waiting for long-term care placement.

“That is past a crisis point,” she said.

There are currently no new nursing homes being built, and the backlog for long-term care assessments has grown to more than 200 patients province-wide.

At the Saint John Regional Hospital, over 80 patients are waiting just to be assessed.

Melanson warns that if the situation isn’t addressed, surgeries could soon be interrupted because hospitals simply won’t have beds available.

She has suggested expanding home-care hours as one immediate solution that could help seniors remain at home while waiting for placement — easing pressure on hospitals.

Meanwhile, political leaders are responding:

• Sam Johnston says government is working on strategies to deal with bed space and community-based care.

• David Coon argues underfunding is at the root of the crisis and warns the province’s deficit may limit action in the upcoming budget.

This isn’t just a hospital issue. It’s a system-wide breakdown between acute care, long-term care, and home support services.

If 40% of beds are filled by patients who shouldn’t be there long-term, what happens to emergency patients? Surgical patients? Families waiting for care?

New Brunswickers deserve answers — and action.

🚨 Clinic Locations Influenced by Government “Input”

Margaret Melanson confirmed that new collaborative care clinic locations are chosen through a “joint decision” between Horizon and the Holt government — with government “input.”

David Coon questioned why government is involved if Horizon already has the data showing where need is greatest.

Since April, 11 clinics have been announced:
• 8 in Liberal ridings
• 2 in PC ridings
• 1 in a Green riding

Meanwhile, 36% of residents in the Fredericton & River Valley zone lack a primary care provider.

Healthcare decisions should be driven by need — not politics.

#NBBrokenHealthcare #HealthcareReform #NewBrunswick

🚨 Respiratory Illness Update in New Brunswick

Three more New Brunswickers have died from COVID-19 during the week of January 25–31.

• Two were aged 65+

• One was between 45–64

In that same week:

• 25 people were hospitalized due to COVID (1 in ICU)

• 9 people were hospitalized with influenza

• 3 were hospitalized with RSV (including one youth aged 5–19)

The province reports respiratory activity levels as moderate, with COVID stable, influenza decreasing, and RSV stable.

However, government data notes that most COVID indicators are higher than last season for this time of year — except ICU admissions, which are similar.

There were also:

• 4 confirmed COVID outbreaks

• 2 RSV outbreaks

The province does not disclose where outbreaks occur.

Since October 1, 2025:

• 118,693 COVID vaccines have been administered

• 211,110 influenza vaccines have been administered

As respiratory season continues, transparency, hospital capacity, and frontline staffing remain critical issues across New Brunswick.

#NBBrokenHealthCare #NBHealth #HealthcareCrisis #PublicHealth #NewBrunswick #HospitalCapacity 

🚨 eVisitNB CEO speaks out after provincial contract not renewed

The Holt government has confirmed it will not renew its contract with eVisitNB, New Brunswick’s homegrown virtual care service.

eVisitNB serves 750–1,000 patients daily, with 55% lacking a family doctor, and has delivered over 1 million consultations across the province.

CEO Dr. Hanif Chatur says patients — including seniors — are reaching out in fear of losing access to care as the service winds down March 31.

The province is now negotiating with Foundever, a Luxembourg-headquartered company that already operates NB’s 811 Tele-Care service.

With 127,000+ New Brunswickers still without primary care, many are asking:
Why replace a local service that was working?

🚨 Who’s Really Driving MAiD Policy in Canada? 🚨

This graphic highlights the interlocking network behind Canada’s MAiD expansion.

CAMAP — funded by the federal Liberal government — develops and distributes clinical guidance to doctors and nurses across Canada. That guidance increasingly frames Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) not as a last resort, but as a healthcare option physicians are expected to raise.

Several of the same individuals appear repeatedly across:
▪️ CAMAP
▪️ Dying With Dignity Canada
▪️ MAiD advisory councils

This raises serious questions:
➡️ Who sets end-of-life policy in Canada?
➡️ Where is democratic oversight?
➡️ Are vulnerable patients being adequately protected?

Canadians deserve transparency, accountability, and a healthcare system focused on care, not shortcuts.

🛑 This conversation isn’t about denying compassion — it’s about who holds power and how it’s being used.

#RepealMAiD #HealthcareEthics #PatientProtection #CanadaHealth #TransparencyMatters

Corporations invest in what makes money.

When something is seen as a cost, it gets cut, minimized, and pushed to the limit.

That approach may work in the business world—but it fails in healthcare.

Patients aren’t line items. Staff aren’t expenses to manage down.

When healthcare is run like a balance sheet instead of a public service, care suffers, workers burn out, and the system breaks.

Recruitment isn’t the problem—working conditions are.

If Horizon and Vitalité, backed by the NB government, fixed the day-to-day reality inside our hospitals—safe staffing levels, manageable workloads, real support, and respect for frontline workers—healthcare professionals would come and stay.

You can’t recruit into burnout, chaos, and chronic understaffing and expect different results.

No one wants to work in a broken system and then be blamed for its failures.

Fix the system. Support the workers. The rest will follow.

Alberta bill raises fears of two-tier health care. Is this the answer that will reduce the deaths of people waiting for healthcare??

A new report warns Alberta’s Bill 11 could open the door to a two-tier health-care system, where those who can pay privately get faster care while public wait times grow longer.

The law allows doctors to work in both public and private systems — something critics say undermines Canada’s single-payer model and may even violate the Canada Health Act.

The Alberta government argues the change will reduce wait times and insists no one will have to pay out of pocket for medically necessary care, dismissing the report as “NDP talking points.”

Federal officials say they’re reviewing the changes closely and will protect universal health care.

Critics warn Alberta could set a precedent for the rest of Canada, accelerating the shift toward U.S.-style health care. 

Moncton’s Dumont ER at risk of losing doctor training accreditation

The Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont Hospital’s emergency department — a key site for training new doctors in New Brunswick — could lose its accreditation due to outdated infrastructure.

Federal minister Dominic LeBlanc says the aging ER (nearly 50 years old) should be a top priority for Ottawa’s new health infrastructure fund, calling it critical to training and retaining doctors in both English and French.

Vitalité Health Network confirms parts of the hospital no longer fully meet teaching standards, with an accreditation review expected later this year.

While a new endoscopy suite has been approved, the ER still needs major modernization.

Without urgent investment, New Brunswick risks losing one of its most important medical training hubs — and making the doctor shortage even worse.

Bracing for a $1B+ deficit, Liberals warn of “difficult decisions”

Facing a deficit that could top $1 billion, the Holt Liberal government has released a pre-budget discussion paper outlining possible spending cuts and new revenue measures ahead of the March 17 budget.

Finance Minister René Legacy says the goal isn’t short-term cuts, but “transformational change” — warning groups they can’t expect business as usual.

Ideas on the table include:

• Shrinking the civil service through attrition or layoffs

• Streamlining agencies and oversight offices

• Moving seniors out of hospital beds into long-term care — potentially charging families once patients are medically discharged

• Closing underused schools and tourist sites

• Downgrading low-traffic roads from pavement to gravel

• Raising hundreds of government fees that haven’t changed in decades

• New tolls on out-of-province vehicles

• Higher sin taxes, tighter lobster enforcement, and regulated online gaming

• Forcing universities and rural businesses to pay more in property and road levies

The province currently projects $14.5B in spending vs. $13.7B in revenue, before factoring in new doctor contracts — already pushing the deficit higher.

Public feedback is open until Feb. 20, but the message from government is clear:

Cuts and higher costs are coming — and no group is being spared. 

Three lessons Canada can learn from Australia’s healthcare system

🇦🇺 Australia ranks #1 globally for healthcare performance. Canada ranks #7. Here’s what we should pay attention to:

1️⃣ Better results don’t require more spending

Canada already spends more on healthcare than most OECD countries — yet we still face long waits, ER closures, and provider shortages. Australia spends less but delivers more equitable access and stronger outcomes.

2️⃣ Privatization isn’t a silver bullet

Australia’s mix of public and private care hasn’t reduced wait times or improved access. In fact, private hospitals there are struggling financially, driving up insurance costs and copayments — and some are closing.

3️⃣ Less bureaucracy = better care

Australia outperforms Canada on administrative efficiency by using electronic claims and reducing paperwork for doctors. Fewer forms, less red tape, more time for patients.

📌 The takeaway: Canada doesn’t need to spend more — it needs to spend smarter, reduce bureaucracy, and stop pretending privatization alone will fix a broken system.

Opinion: Demanding essential change for health care in N.B.

Public would like to see signals of something of substance that would give reason for optimism

Author: Ken McGeorge • Health care reform
Published: Jan 29, 2026 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read

Dr. Lise Babin, President of the New Brunswick Medical Society, expressed hope of improvements in the province’s health care in a commentary on December 31, 2025. She is entitled to be optimistic: as president of the very influential NB Medical Society, she and her association were very pleased negotiations with the province had come to a successful conclusion for physicians and nurses.

The new contract with physicians provides not only a respectable inflationary adjustment but a new approach to enable the collaborative care clinics to be funded appropriately.

These clinics are the centre-piece of the government strategy for primary care services. And an important piece it is! For several years now we have been hearing from more than 100,000 New Brunswickers who have not had the access to health care services called for in the Canada Health Act. Clinics recently established are helping with that as are the Care Link Clinics.

The conventional approach to the practice of family medicine served the population very well for generations. Family physicians operating either solo or in groups tended to accommodate after-hour care with shared on-call duties and many of the practices ensured they had time on the daily calendar to accept urgent patients.

So “back in the day” the pressure on emergency departments was nothing like it is today.

Twenty years ago, we began to see a creaking in the system. In the old days, when a family doctor would retire, he/she could “sell the practice for fair market value.” In executing such a transaction, the physician would have to secure a replacement physician who would not only take over the practice but responsibility for all the patients registered in that practice.

I used to hear of physicians with well over 2,000 patients on their list. We began to see arrangements in which multiple physicians were required to take over a practice along with many other variations on that theme.

Some physicians have had a lot of trouble in selling a practice apparently because in recent years all a new physician had to do is let it be known they are taking patients and their office would be filled in short order, apparently. The provincial waiting list for primary care has become a large and important development, as well.

One of the features of medical practice that has evolved rapidly is the interest of physicians in managing work/life balance. Suddenly, the day of the “workaholic” doctors seemed to disappear. And that is a good thing for the doctors and their patients. Being a parent, managing a full-time practice, taking the required shifts in the emergency department, in addition to all the other pressures on a physician’s time has led many physicians to develop practice patterns that are mercifully different from the workaholism of the past.

At the turn of this century there was growing interest in alternate payment plans for physicians and alternate compensation models. Ontario was one province that developed a variety of models that seemed to be of interest to physicians depending on where they were practicing.

New Brunswick was a bit slow to develop the collaborative care clinic model and the compensation model to support it. Our Minister of Health, Dr. John Dornan, recognized the need to make the clinics and compensation model a priority and he is giving that initiative much energy.

Having physicians and nurses who believe they are being recognized and compensated fairly is vital to excellence in health care. Recruit great professionals, support them in their practice, and compensate them fairly… three giant steps toward excellence.

But it doesn’t stop there. While the professionals can be content about the new contract and, hopefully, increasingly energized to develop the clinic model, there are many other elements of the health system that require the same priority and that, of course, is a challenge for the government. Some of the value of having wonderful professionals feeling fairly compensated and recognized is currently offset by huge issues in the organization of the system.

The nursing sector is large and still in need of much attention at many levels. Compensation is undoubtedly one but a careful analysis of real issues has revealed a lengthy list of issues that the government needs to not only be aware of but attentive to.

And there are so many other professional groups within the system whose services are essential and there is a minefield of issues to be attentive to. The health authorities, from what I have personally observed, seem to be doing a lot of things in that area.

But then the big issues: alternate level of care patients and emergency departments. I would like to feel Dr. Babin’s optimism as it relates to the ALC and emergency department issues…but I don’t!

The public would like to see some signals of something of substance that would give reason for that optimism. Having doctors and nurses happy is critical. And it is also critical that the other professional groups, some of which represent great recruitment and development challenges, feel equally respected and compensated.

But none of these are the sick people lying for days on a stretcher in the ambulance bay or in a corridor with the world passing by as you really need peace, quiet and skilled attention. Nor are they the ones that receive the telephone recorded message that “if this is an urgent situation, go to the emergency department.” That is the standard message on the phones of every physician’s office that I have had occasion to contact in the last decade.

Further, these are not the people who wait for 12 hours in the emergency department to see a physician or who wait anywhere from a year to five years to see the specialist whose skill potentially could relieve much pain and suffering.

The collaborative care clinic initiative is superb but it requires fast-tracking to blanket the province. The tens of thousands of patients who still lack access to effective primary care need to be convinced there is an end in sight. The people who speak to me about health care, and there are many, are no longer impressed with promises. And they deserve better; they have been paying for a service they are not getting.

The Legislature opens, according to the published legislative calendar, on April 17, 2026 with the Standing Committee on Public Accounts during the first week of March 2026. Let us hope there will be much more than promises, much more than the traditional government plan unveiled before that time.

The long-term care plan can and must be sufficiently specific as to show how and when the ALC population will be brought under some reasonable form of management. Lofty phrases such as “we will strive…” or “the new nursing home plan will…” or “legislation will be introduced in the fall session…” Just get it done!

If it isn’t obvious by now it should be! We are long past the description of urgent. What has been described by families, including my own, represents disaster and Third World conditions.

We can and must demand essential change.

Ken McGeorge, BS, DHA, CHE is a retired career health care CEO, part time consultant, and columnist with Brunswick News; he is the author of Health Care Reform in New Brunswick and may be reached at kenmcgeorge44@outlook.com or www.kenmcgeorge.com

This is how real people are having to deal with our failed healthcare system. MAID is cheaper than Ketamine Treatment so what alternative does a patient in New Brunswick have. Please read.

This person wishes to have their privacy protected.

Hi, I'm reaching out because I think my story illustrates exactly how broken our healthcare system is in New Brunswick.

I have severe treatment-resistant depression and anhedonia - complete inability to feel joy, pleasure, or positive emotions. Just emptiness and pain.

I've tried everything available: multiple antidepressants, SNRIs, SSRIs, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and even 8 sessions of ECT.

Nothing has worked.

There is ONE treatment left that could help: ketamine therapy. My psychiatrist agrees it has the best chance of success for treatment-resistant depression like mine.

New Brunswick won't cover it. It costs thousands of dollars I cannot afford.

But New Brunswick WILL cover Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). My psychiatrist will sign off on my death in 2026.

The government funds plenty of things. But effective mental health treatment? No money for that.

They'd rather pay to kill me than pay to treat me.

I don't want to die. But I cannot live like this - emotionally dead inside with no accessible treatment.

Apparently, mental health is not worth the investment.

This is the healthcare system we have. This is what we've accepted.

If you think this story needs to be shared, please feel free to post it (anonymously if possible). People need to know what's happening.

State of the Province: Holt Admits “Ugly” First-Year Results

Premier Susan Holt says her Liberal government met 11 of 15 targets in its first year, but openly acknowledged that some of the misses were “ugly and uncomfortable.” She pointed to health care, the economy, and education as the biggest problem areas, while framing 2025 as a year spent “building the foundation.”

Healthcare: The Biggest Failure

Health care was described as the government’s top priority — and its biggest miss.

The Liberals aimed to have 79% of New Brunswickers with a doctor or nurse practitioner by the end of 2025.

The reality: 72.5%, a four-point drop from the previous year.

That means 238,000 people now have no primary care provider, up 40,000 in one year.

Holt called these numbers “the worst of the bunch” and said they’re keeping her awake at night.

The government blamed population growth and physician retirements.

Health Minister John Dornan was brought on stage and said he was “embarrassed” by the drop in access to care, adding that fixing the system is “a marathon, not a sprint.”

Minor Health “Wins”

The Liberals claimed success on two more modest health targets:

The nursing home wait list dropped by just eight people, from 1,084 to 1,076.

The share of patients able to see a doctor or nurse practitioner within five days rose from 31.4% to 34.2%.

Political Reaction

PC Leader Glen Savoie said the numbers show the Liberals can’t meet even “modest targets.”

He criticized the government for brushing off worsening access to care as simply a result of population growth.

Overall Tone

Holt emphasized transparency, saying she wanted to share bad news openly — a contrast to previous governments’ more upbeat speeches. Still, she insisted the groundwork has been laid and promised better results ahead.

New Brunswick’s health-care system needs real change — not more excuses.

Long wait times, overcrowded emergency rooms, and limited access to family doctors and specialists have become the norm in our province, despite years of government promises.

The recent 24-hour ER challenge with Health Minister John Dornan exposed what patients and staff already know: people are waiting up to 24 hours in emergency rooms, often with only one physician covering multiple critical areas. Even the minister admitted the system is broken.

This isn’t anecdotal — it’s systemic. New Brunswickers wait months, sometimes over a year, for cardiology, vascular surgery, ultrasounds, and other essential care. These delays cost lives.

The frustrating truth is that solutions already exist. Decades of research and successful models from other OECD countries show what works. The problem isn’t knowledge — it’s political will. Instead of real reform, we get reports, announcements, and pilot projects that don’t help patients today.

Through NB Broken HealthCare, we hear heartbreaking stories daily from people falling through the cracks. When did it become acceptable for people to die while waiting for care?

The goal is simple: timely care, properly staffed emergency rooms, accessible specialists, and a system that puts patients first. New Brunswickers deserve better — and it’s time for our leaders to act.

— Peter Phillips

Founder, NB Broken HealthCare

8 Countries With the Best Healthcare Systems (According to International Rankings)

When experts rank the world’s best healthcare systems, they look at more than just hospitals. Key factors include universal access, patient safety, costs, life expectancy, preventive care, and health outcomes.

Based on data from organizations like the World Health Organization and the Commonwealth Fund, these countries consistently come out on top:

🇫🇷 France – Universal coverage, strong preventive care, excellent patient outcomes

🇯🇵 Japan – High-quality care at low cost, heavy focus on prevention, world-leading life expectancy

🇸🇪 Sweden – Equity-focused system, strong primary care, low mortality rates

🇩🇪 Germany – Long-standing universal system with advanced facilities and strong workforce

🇬🇧 United Kingdom – NHS provides care free at point of use, strong chronic disease management

🇦🇺 Australia – Public system with private options to reduce wait times

🇨🇭 Switzerland – Mandatory insurance, high costs but excellent outcomes

🇳🇱 Netherlands – Patient choice, efficient administration, strong primary care

What do the top systems have in common?

✔ Universal access

✔ Strong primary care

✔ Emphasis on prevention

✔ Commitment to quality outcomes

No system is perfect—but the best ones make sure people get care before they become emergencies.

👉 Worth asking: Why are so many countries doing this better than we are? 

Is New Brunswick healthcare already partly privatized?

Medavie is often described as “not-for-profit” — but it is not a public organization and it is not owned by the Government of New Brunswick.

Medavie is a mutual organization, meaning it’s owned by its policyholders — individuals, employers, unions, retirees, and organizations that purchase insurance plans through Medavie Blue Cross. These policyholders do not vote like shareholders, and the public has no direct control over how Medavie is governed.

Yet Medavie delivers core, publicly funded healthcare services in New Brunswick, including:
• Ambulance New Brunswick
• The Extra-Mural Program (home care)
• Administration of NB Medicare billing and physician payments

These are not side services — they are essential parts of the healthcare system, funded by taxpayers but operated at arm’s length from government.

So while NB healthcare is publicly funded, key services are already privately delivered, outside direct democratic control. Not for profit — but not public either.

The real debate isn’t whether privatization exists.
It’s how much is already here, how accountable it is, and whether patients are actually seeing better results.

NB Broken HealthCare

No surprise here!

A new NB Health Council report confirms what many New Brunswickers already know: people here are dying younger because they aren’t getting timely medical care.

The study shows NB’s rate of preventable deaths is similar to the rest of Canada — but treatable deaths are higher. That means people are missing screenings, diagnoses, and treatment that could save lives.

Examples include lower rates of colon cancer screening and mammograms compared to national averages. These are diseases that are often survivable when caught early — but in NB, too many cases are being caught too late.

The result? Life expectancy in New Brunswick is more than a year shorter than the Canadian average.

This isn’t about personal choices alone. It’s about access, early detection, and a healthcare system that’s failing to intervene when it should.

Shari Watson

·

The following is not written in anger for the sake of anger, nor is it about politics or personalities. It is written out of exhaustion, moral injury, and lived experience that is shared by countless frontline workers and patients. It is a plea to stop dismissing reality as negativity, and to start listening to the people inside the system who are watching harm unfold in real time.

An Open Letter : The Silent Damage of Being Ignored, the truth people are tired of repeating.

Healthcare has become a constant weight on my mind. Not as an abstract policy issue, but as something that directly affects well being, dignity, and survival. The recent letter by Katarina Lekborg that went viral struck a nerve for a reason. It resonated because it told a truth. And the most dangerous thing right now would be to let that conversation fade.

What is most disturbing is not that the system is strained, frontline staff have been saying that for years. What is disturbing is that government leadership continue to reject the lived reality of patients and healthcare workers, choosing instead to believe the polished, self congratulatory reports coming from executive offices.

Susan Holt's response to recent MTU complaints defensively stated "its better than having patients in the parking lots"

The Minister of Health, after his 24 hour ER stay, commented that there is a nurse in the waiting room reassessing patients so they won't die while waiting. These statements are presented as reassurance to the public, but to those who work the system they feel insulting and dishonest. The public is rarely told that the staff placed in the waiting room are personal support workers with minimal training, not nurses with the clinical authority or resources to meaningfully intervene. We are told to applaud these measures that were implemented after a man died as part of a review meant to prevent further deaths. Praising these actions as innovation or success is not leadership, it is damage control.

Staff know the dirty secrets. They see the shortcuts, the gaps, the unsafe ratios, the more compromises made daily just to keep the system from collapsing. Leadership stands at a podium and declares success while those on the ground know the truth. This causes something far more corrosive than burnout, it destroys trust.

There is now zero faith in leadership and that erotion shows itself everywhere. Anger, irritability, disengagement, and a growing sense of futility. People stop speaking up because they are not heard. This is not because they dont care, but because carrying the weight of unacknowledged reality is exhausting.

Are the people not the voices?

When did CEO reports outweigh patient outcomes? When did optics become more important than honestly. Why is it easier for government to swallow smoke and mirror narratives than to listen to the very people keeping people alive with shear will and skill.

This is not about delayed pizza deliveries or bad coffee orders, this is about people deteriorating in hallways, television and treatment rooms, and garages. This is about preventable suffering. This is about deaths that are framed as unfortunate but inevitable, instead of unacceptable and urgent calls to action.

How much more has to be said? How many more letters or face to face meetings? How many more deaths?

Everytime the truth from frontline staff is minimized or contradicted by glossy reports, it sends a clear message that your reality does not matter. And that message is breaking the very people the system depends on.

If leadership truly wants to change it starts with believing the voices of those inside the system and the patients trapped within. Until then, the anger will grow, trust will continue to erode, and people will keep paying the price with their health and their lives.

Silence is not stability, it is surrender. And many of us are no longer willing to surrender to a lie. I stand firm in the truth even though it often feels lonely. And I ask those of you that know this reality to walk beside me. "Tell the truth even if your voice shakes."

Shari Watson RN

How specialist referrals really work in New Brunswick (plain language):

Many people assume that when a doctor sends a referral to a specialist, it comes with a clear “triage score” and a guaranteed wait time. That’s not how it works in New Brunswick.

There is no province-wide scoring system for specialist referrals.

Instead, your doctor writes a referral and labels it using words like:

• Urgent
  
  

• Semi-urgent / Priority
  
  

• Routine
  
  

These are descriptions, not guarantees.

Once the referral is sent, the specialist’s office decides where you land on the wait list based on:

• The wording in the referral
  
  

• Test results attached (or not attached)
  
  

• How serious the condition sounds on paper
  
  

• How many specialists are available
  
  

An “urgent” referral does NOT mean fast care. It only means you’re placed ahead of someone labeled “routine.” If the system is overwhelmed, even urgent patients can wait months.

If your condition gets worse, you are not automatically moved up the list. Your doctor must send an updated referral asking for re-triage. If that doesn’t happen, people quietly fall through the cracks.

In plain terms:
👉 Referrals in NB are prioritized by words, not timelines
👉 Wait times depend more on system capacity than medical need
👉 Patients often assume someone is monitoring their case — they aren’t

This is not a failure of individual doctors. It’s a system design problem — and one the public deserves to clearly understand.

Why I Started NB Broken HealthCare

Peter Phillips 

People often ask why I started NB Broken HealthCare.

The answer is simple—and deeply personal.

It began at the Georges Dumont Hospital.

I presented to the emergency room with chest pain. After hours of waiting, I made a decision no one should ever have to make: I left. If I was going to die, I decided it would be at home, not alone in an ER waiting area.

That wasn’t a one-off experience.

In October, I had two ER visits, including an ambulance ride to the Moncton Hospital with appendicitis. I was not examined and was sent directly to the waiting room. I couldn’t wait any longer and went home. I returned later that same day and waited 13 hours with appendicitis. I was offered Tylenol.

I was eventually admitted and had surgery.

Two weeks later, I began experiencing severe pain in my lower right abdomen. It may have been related to the surgery. I waited 24 hours before seeking care again. I was sent to the surgeon’s office and given pain medication. That was it. The pain still comes and goes.

I previously had a quadruple bypass in Saint John, and I want to be clear—the cardiac unit there was excellent. When I returned home, I saw my cardiologist once. After that, I never heard from him again.

Since then, my condition has progressively worsened. I now have severe, extensive pan-vascular atherosclerosis and calcifications—coronary and aortoiliac. My days are spent taking naps just to combat the severe fatigue I have.

We all pay for our health care in New Brunswick.

We should be getting what we’ve paid for.

This is not about blaming frontline staff. They are doing the best they can in a system stretched beyond its limits. This is about a health-care system that can no longer reliably respond to serious, time-sensitive medical needs.

NB Broken HealthCare exists because these stories are not rare.

And because they should never be normal.

We can do better.

And we must.

In Canada, criminal responsibility does not require intent to kill.

Under the Criminal Code of Canada (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46), section 219(1) defines criminal negligence as:

“Everyone is criminally negligent who, in doing anything, or in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do, shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons.”

This standard is routinely applied to individuals whose reckless actions—or failures to act—result in death, including cases of impaired or dangerous driving.

Yet when governments repeatedly ignore warnings about understaffed hospitals, closed emergency rooms, delayed care, and unsafe patient conditions—and preventable deaths follow—there is no comparable legal accountability.

This is not about intent.

It is about foreseeability, duty, and neglect.

If reckless decisions that cost lives are criminal in one context, it is reasonable to ask why systemic decisions that produce the same outcomes are treated differently.

That question deserves serious public discussion.