Existing severe doctor shortage destined to grow worse if not immediately addressed
What does the future hold for primary health care in the Upper Saint John River Valley? The local medical community, municipal leaders, and Upper Valley patients say the future is dire without immediate action.
Concerns about the dwindling level of primary care in Woodstock, Carleton County, and the entire region served by the Upper River Valley Hospital aren’t new. Municipal leaders and the medical community have been seeking solutions for the past decade.
While potential solutions appeared within reach during that time, they remained just beyond their grasp.
In the wake of the government’s failure to address the concerns as they near crisis levels, Upper Valley residents stepped up their pressure to demand action. Earlier this summer, 650 people signed and delivered a petition to Premier Blaine Higgs and Health Minister Bruce Fitch demanding “action and leadership to address the crisis in healthcare in Carleton County.”
Carleton Country resident Erin DeLong, who spearheaded the petition drive, included a letter to Premier Higgs explaining the region’s dire family physician shortage and its residents’ expectations.
“We are in crisis,” wrote DeLong in her letter accompanying the petition. “We implore you to step in and address the serious issue facing New Brunswickers in Carleton County and the Woodstock area. There are thousands of citizens without family physicians and nurse practitioners needed to manage their health care needs.”
The petition, which demanded the creation of a walk-in clinic and enhanced physician recruitment for the area, included comments from many of the signatories.
One comment encapsulated the feelings expressed in many of the comments.
“Too many people I know and care about, including myself, have no family doctor. People need access to good and consistent health care and not to feel like a burden if they need to access the only help they can get by going to an overcrowded hospital with overworked staff. It’s beyond time to start making changes. Change must start somewhere!”
DeLong asked the premier to explain how the changes to leadership in the Health Department, including the minister, and Horizon Health Network helped address the ongoing primary care crisis.
DeLong’s letter quoted the premier’s own words when he removed then-Health Minister Dorothy Shephard in 2022.
“We have a plan. It needs to be implemented. The situation we’re in today is the result of many, many years of successive governments refusing to deal with urgent situations.”
She asked whether the government implemented that plan and to explain what steps it took to address the crisis.
“Are you standing proudly as a successive government who has dealt with this urgent situation? What have you done to recruit and retain Nurse Practitioners in this province? Physicians? Have you explored other provincial models for care?”
The River Valley Sun contacted the Premier’s office, the Health Department, Carleton MLA and Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Bill Hogan and Carleton-Victoria MLA and Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries Minister Margaret Johnson for comment on the petition.
Only Hogan responded.
“I am aware of the health care challenges here,” he stated in an email. “I support the petition and have signed it. I am actively working with Horizon Health to find solutions.”
Former Woodstock Mayor Arthur Slipp, whose efforts to address the community’s healthcare crisis date back to 2016, said Hogan is familiar with Woodstock’s healthcare crisis from his former role on the Woodstock council and as the riding’s MLA.
The former mayor offered a history of Woodstock’s efforts to address the physician shortage, referring to efforts that began in 2016 when Dr. Roseanne Goodine, with support from Doctors Gary Beatty and Bill Mutrie, approached the town.
He explained their input led to the creation and completion of the Carleton County Health Needs Assessment, which identified primary health care and mental health as the two most significant areas of concern.
Slipp said the assessment led to the creation of a steering committee, which, in consultation with Horizon Health and Minister Dorothy Shephard, almost succeeded in creating a walk-in clinic in Woodstock. He said COVID and a change in direction within the health department scuttled those efforts.
The current Woodstock Council recently expressed a commitment to continuing the efforts of previous councils to secure a walk-in clinic and improve primary care.
During the Aug. 27 council meeting, Mayor Trina Jones and council members responded to a letter from DeLong with a commitment to support the petition’s goals.
Council reached a consensus on writing a letter to the premier expressing the town’s support of the healthcare initiative.
While efforts are underway in Woodstock to create a walk-in clinic to ease the primary care crisis, similar efforts are underway in Carleton North. The District of Carleton North council has long expressed concerns outlined in a recent letter from Dr. Paula Keating, President of the New Brunswick Medical Society.
Keating’s letter explained that a recent NBMS analysis identified Carleton North as an at-risk community.
She explained that of the 33 active family physicians in Carleton County, 23 are over 50, with seven in their 70s, nine in their 60s, and seven in their 50s.
“If physicians over the age of 55 choose to retire within the next three to five years — a possibility that could materialize at any moment — primary care in Carleton County will be at risk of collapsing,” Keating wrote.
As the Oct. 21 provincial election approaches, healthcare is the primary issue. Liberal leader Susan Holt hit the road running, announcing a comprehensive plan to create 30 walk-in clinics across the province, including one in Carleton North among the top 13 priorities.
“Where we have willingness, the healthcare professionals, the readiness to go and adopt this model, that’s where we’ll be able to move the fastest,” Holt told the River Valley Sun during a tour of Woodstock with Woodstock-Hartland Liberal candidate Marissa Pelkey on Sept. 2.
Visit this webpage regularly for further healthcare stores and election information leading up to the provincial election in October.
