A new survey by the New Brunswick Health Council (NBHC) shows only one in three people can get an appointment with their primary care provider within five days.
Stephane Robichaud, the CEO of NBHC, said this trend is not a surprise to the council.
“There is a growing proportion of people with increased frailty, many chronic conditions, and that would be increasing pressure on the health system,” he said in an interview. “Secondly, demographically, the health care sector — like every other sector in the economy — would be facing the pressure of demographics, aging population and more professionals retiring.”
He said the government’s efforts in improving primary care have not yet had a chance to bear fruit.
“We’re not surprised because a lot of these measures have been confirmed in the last 12 months,” he said. “It’s going to take a bit of time to see that impact.”
The council will now be surveying three times a year in order to better capture the impact of the investments in primary care.
But Robichaud believes there needs to be resources allocated to frontline managers to collect the right data — especially data surrounding attachment rates and timely access.
“We will get [a] much stronger provincial picture, a much stronger understanding of how things are evolving,” he said. “But these managers locally are the ones that really need to be equipped effectively with standardized measurements.”
Horizon Health Network (HHN) recently launched an online progress tracker for collaborative care clinics.
Eleven of the 16 collaborative clinics have opened under HHN’s jurisdiction. According to their progress tracker, 13,719 patients have been attached to family health teams.
Three have opened in Charlotte County.
In Saint Andrews, the clinic has 3,000 patients and is accepting new patients off the waitlist — and is expected to attach everyone in the E5B geographically area.
Over in Blacks Harbour, the clinic is not accepting new patients off the waitlist, but does have a plan to take on everyone in that area as well, once renovations are complete in 18 to 24 months.
The clinic in St. Stephen is open, but is constrained by space while it waits for a new location on King Street.
According to the progress tracker, 1,460 patients have been removed from the waitlist since February 2025. HHN told The Courier that 2,700 patients remain unattached.
Robichaud also said the single-doctor practice is not conducive to timely access, which is why the collaborative care model has been chosen by the government.
“Currently, we have a bottleneck kind of scenario where only one professional is supposed to do all those roles,” he said. “As our regional health authorities (RHAs) are progressing in their efforts to create more of a team approach where we’re maximizing roles that should also help in timely access. Because there are more options for people, actually better options, people that are better positioned to help them with what their needs are.”
Health Minister Dr. John Dornan said he is concerned to see the reduction in those who had access to primary care.
“I think we need to put it in context,” he said, speaking with The Courier. “We’ve been working hard to increase the number of people that can take on patients since we were elected and the tide doesn’t turn overnight or in the moment.”
He said there is inconsistency in the accuracy of the number of people who do not have access to primary care.
“I believe that access has worsened over the last decade. I am not convinced it’s worsened, since our time in government,” he said.
He said the collaborative model is what New Brunswickers and practitioners wanted — both for timely access and continuity of care. Dornan agrees there is room for improvement on data collection.
“In the past, we did not have that data,” Dornan explained. “Most physicians’ charts were paper charts, and we didn’t really know how many were attached. Now, with our negotiated agreement with the physicians, those that are participating in the collaborative clinics have to have an electronic medical record, and so that can be accessed much more easily.”
He said the progress tracker released by HHN is a way of being transparent to the public.
“When the New Brunswick Health Link Connect list is moved over to our RHAs, that number will be more easily visible and more accurate and give us [and] New Brunswickers a better idea of how many people are attached,” Dornan said.
Both Zone 2 (Fredericton) and Zone 3 (Miramichi) are both struggling to attach patients. Dornan said that is largely due to a significant wave of retirements.
“The practice ready assessment [for] physicians is being biased, encouraged to go to areas that have bigger needs,” he said.
Dornan said he understands it is difficult to find patience when you do not have access to a primary care provider.. The government has promised an 85 per cent attachment rate by the end of their mandate.
“We are working hard to attach those folks,” he said. “We are seeing some success. I am thankful that our medical societies are working collaboratively with us to do this. We have the same goals, and I think that we will persevere.”
