Service costs jump 30 per cent under new agreement
According to the New Brunswick Opportunities Network (NBON), the contract for virtual care services between the Holt government and a company owned by the Foundever Group will cost taxpayers 30 per cent more than the previous services offered by eVisitNB.
Notice of the agreement, which a government spokesperson said was signed by department officials on Wednesday, March 25, was posted on the province’s procurement website on Thursday, March 26.
NBON shares government tenders and proposals for goods and services, and posted that a $30,097,525 contract was signed with Foundever Assistance Services Corporation. The company currently operates New Brunswick’s Tele-Care 811 service.
The government’s Request for Proposals (RFP) for virtual care was issued in Oct. 2025. In Feb. 2026, the province announced that a company under the umbrella of the Foundever Group was the successful bidder.
eVisitNB, which had been providing the service without an RFP since 2022, also bid on the contract, but under its new name, ThinkNew Health Technologies. They did not win the bid.
Since then, questions about Foundever’s global headquarters, its financial stability, and, now, its connection to support for Russian troops on the Ukrainian frontline have dogged the Liberal government.
The province’s virtual care RFP was based on 250,000 patients per year. On basic numbers, that means the Foundever bid will cost New Brunswick taxpayers approximately $60 per patient – a 30 per cent increase.
In Feb. 2024, the New Brunswick Medical Society revealed that the government allowed eVisitNB to charge $45 per appointment.
eVisitNB CEO Dr. Hanif Chatur offered no comment when reached by the River Valley Sun.
In previous interviews, Dr. Chatur said his company had served one million patients over four years. At a cost of $45 per patient, eVisitNB would have billed the province an average of $11 million per year. The new contract will mean the province will spend just over $15 million per year.
During legislative committee hearings, Deputy Minister of Health Eric Beaulieu noted the new company was chosen because it would be integrating further services for the department. The River Valley Sun has asked for a list of services the new company will be providing.
“I just find the whole thing odd, and I’m extremely disappointed,” said Woodstock-Hartland MLA and Conservative Health Critic Bill Hogan.
“To pay that amount of money to a company that’s on the verge of bankruptcy, and is supporting the Russians in the war with Ukraine. I just don’t understand why we don’t put New Brunswick first.”
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