Medical society wants to hear about New Brunswickers’ experiences with health care | CBC News

The New Brunswick Medical Society wants New Brunswickers to share their stories about the province’s ailing health-care system.

The society’s “Demand Action” campaign combines these stories from New Brunswickers with several “demands” for the province — all part of a prescription to improve the system.

Dr. Paula Keating, the president of the society, said a busy political calendar makes the campaign more pressing.

“As we approach the release of the provincial budget in the coming weeks … and possibly a spring snap election call, we thought this campaign was very important now to call on government to understand the how critical it is right now in the health-care system in New Brunswick and to start investing urgently now, not waiting for an election,” said Keating.

CBC News has reached out to the Department of Health about the society’s campaign and their demands and are awaiting a response.

Patient experiences

A short look through the experiences shared on the site reveals many complaints about a lack of doctors and long wait times.

“I haven’t had a doctor in 10 years.”

“My husband and I lost our family doctor in 2020 and we have been on the waiting list for a new family doctor since then.”

“We are not having a third child because of the lack of trust in our broken medical system.”

“We are 69 and 75. We have no doctor or nurse practitioner.”

“My 87 year old mother in law finally received surgery after being on the waiting list for a year.”

While the stories may be frustrating to hear, Keating said she’s not surprised by them.

“I work with patients on a daily basis and I hear similar stories and we’re all doing our best to make things work and provide the best care possible to people right now,” said Keating.

“But we need investments and we need them now.”

Society demands

In addition to asking for stories, the society is calling for immediate action in four areas.

The society is looking for short- and long-term fixes for the shortage of primary care providers, which they say could lead to 100,000 New Brunswickers being without a family doctor or nurse practitioner by the end of the year.

Social determinants of health also play a major role in the society’s demands. For example, they want 500 more affordable housing units built by the end of the year and a plan to build 2,500 more by 2025.

“Access to adequate, safe, accessible, affordable housing makes it easier for patients to obtain employment, to have better mental health, to access community supports and access health care,” said Keating.

The society also wants the province to implement more competitive recruitment initiatives, and to refurbish aging operating rooms and medical equipment.

Keating, who has worked as a family doctor in the province for 30 years, admits she’s not sure if she would choose to work in the province if she was just graduating from medical school.

“Certainly it would look very attractive elsewhere, given some of the recent investments that many of the other provinces have made in recognizing how valuable primary care is and family physicians in particular are,” said Keating.