Dr. Jeff Steeves is the president of the New Brunswick Medical Society. (Photo: Submitted/New Brunswick Medical Society)
The New Brunswick Medical Society says health care faces many challenges and through consultation with more than 500 physicians from across the province, it has released a report with 57 recommendations to address them.
The report was prepared in response to the provincial government’s discussion paper on the future of health care which came out in January.
The report paints a grim picture noting shortages of medical professionals and hospital beds, among the longest wait times in Canada for surgeries and emergency care, the province has the highest proportion of seniors in the country and it states New Brunswickers have never been unhealthier.
New Brunswick Medical Society president Dr. Jeff Steeves says greater investment is needed in the system and the province must receive more in federal health transfers.
“Certainly not all of these recommendations have a price tag but some of them do. As people live longer and we can provide more to them, health care costs go up and that’s true of most things in society,” notes Dr. Steeves.
He believes accessibility to care should be a top priority with recommendations for the short, medium and long term.
“We presently have approximately 40,000 New Brunswickers on the patient connect list. Getting them access to health care has to be priority one and that would be short term.”
Dr. Steeves says looking for efficiencies within the system and creating teams for both new and existing physicians would be medium term and recruitment and retention would be longer term.
Physicians across the country began adopting virtual care during the pandemic and Dr. Steeves says it allows for efficiencies and conveniences although it may not be used as much now that the province is in the green phase of recovery.
The report says the status quo for the health care system is not sustainable and only a collaborative approach with government, health care leaders and community stakeholders will lead to meaningful change.
