Over the last decade, successive governments have tried to cut their way to a more efficient and effective health-care system.
It clearly hasn’t worked.
How has the current state of health care impacted you?
Click “Go to board” to share your story.
The Facts
75% of New Brunswickers say more public dollars need to flow into health care.
The time for half measures and pilot projects is over. Now that we are a growing province, we need to think much bigger. We believe more needs to be done to strengthen primary care, drastically improve our health human resource strategy, address social determinants of health, and modernize surgical management delivery.
Read more below about each of those key area.
Over 80,000 New Brunswickers are currently on the NB Health Link, waiting for a family physician. Based on current trends, that number could reach 100,000 by the end of 2024.
For family physicians, an increasingly challenging work environment is leading them to retire early, cut their hours, or simply leave the province.
What we know:
- Due to our complex patient population, it takes two to three new physicians to replace one retiring physician.
- New Brunswick family physicians are among the lowest paid in Canada, ranking eighth in the country.
- Increases were recently announced in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba, where earnings are set to increase by up to 20%.
- Saskatchewan and Alberta announced one-time stabilization investments in their family practices.
What we demand:
- A feasible short-term bridge to stabilize primary care, while we work together on a long-term strategy. We cannot and should not wait for an election, the need is urgent.
New Brunswick’s recruitment efforts are not keeping pace with other provinces in our region.
What we know:
- 40% of physicians are considering a reduction in their practices.
- We need at least eighty more net new family physicians just to take care of the 80,000 patients currently stranded on NB Health Link.
- Over the next 10 years, if 75% of physicians aged 60+ retire, at least 200 more physicians will be required to replace them.
- Nova Scotia offers physicians more generous incentives, and their programs are better developed.
- New Brunswick physicians who train medical learners are paid up to five times less than other provinces.
What we demand:
- New Brunswick needs more competitive recruitment incentives if we’re going to address this crisis.
Safe and affordable housing is key to a healthy New Brunswick. Access to adequate, safe, accessible, and affordable housing makes it easier to get a job, and to access health care services and community supports.
What we know:
- Two in five New Brunswickers worry about keeping a roof over their head every day.
- Increased investment in affordable housing for the province is critical.
- New Brunswick needs more public housing units, faster.
What we demand:
- Build 500 public housing units this year, instead of the planned 380.
- Create a plan to build at least 2,500 more public housing units by 2025.
New Brunswick must reduce surgical wait times, not just for hip and knee replacements, but for all procedures.
What we know:
- Even with recent investments in hip and knee surgeries, New Brunswickers are still waiting twice as long as other Canadians for those interventions.
- It’s not enough to realign existing resources and force other patients to wait for their needed surgeries, we need to transform the system and increase overall capacity.
What we demand:
- The New Brunswick Government needs to invest in more operating room time, updated equipment, and modernize assessment, treatment, triage and scheduling practices.
New Brunswick must invest in health care, but the system itself also needs to evolve.
Physicians want to be part of the solution.
Join us in demanding action.
