Several hundred people attended an event to connect them with NB Health Link organized by the Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission.
Charlane Hatt, the SNBSC regional director, told The Courier in a previous interview, that the staff at SNBSC sensed there was a need in the community and it hoped people who are without primary care would come.
“We just had a sense there was a large need in the community for primary health care and that they didn’t know or weren’t aware of NB Health Link,” she said in a previous interview with The Courier.
NB Health Link aims to provide primary health care to those who are without. It was created amid a waitlist that contains thousands of New Brunswickers.
Mel Walkers has been without a family doctor for about a year.
“We need a new family doctor is what we need,” he said. “But I mean, better access to health care, and it’s a good thing they’re doing here to let the province know we need doctors down here.”
He said the event could use a better organization when it comes to how people get seen.
“They should have numbers so that people aren’t jumping the line,” he said.
Philip Holmes has a family doctor but said he is inaccessible due to the physician’s personal health.
“I don’t want to have to run all over the place getting prescriptions and stuff,” he said in an interview. “That’s my biggest fear right there is what the heck am I going to do.”
He said he believes this event will also help them get a handle on how many people need primary care in the region.
“The biggest thing, we should get more nurse practitioners, down here,” he said. “Because the biggest chunk of time is usually prescriptions.”
Others, who also have several children, were there to seek help with primary care.
Miranda Dickens-Crisp was there with her infant baby, Evelyn.
“I need a reliable family doctor,” she said. “We have a lot of prescriptions in our family. We can’t go to the ER with the kids to get the prescriptions filled. I have four [kids].”
She said her family did have a doctor, but that individual may not return to the practice. Dickens-Crisp hopes to get on the list and signing up for NB Health Link may allow them to get prescriptions in a timely manner.
During the last election campaign, Premier Susan Holt promised to open 30 collaborative care clinics across the province in order to improve access.
One of those clinics is slated for St. Stephen – with an ambitious timeline of 18 months. Another is planned for Blacks Harbour in 2026.
The Courier spoke with some people who also said they want more doctors and nurse practitioners in the area – with enough resources to run the practices.