Fredericton hospital to stop admitting patients to ambulance bay

Fredericton's hospital will stop admitting patients to an ambulance bay by the spring, according to Horizon Health Network.

The regional health authority said last week it has used the space, known as the medical transition unit or MTU, to hold up to 13 admitted patients since late 2024.

But unlike other hospital units, it's located in an ambulance bay outside the hospital — without access to running water or bathrooms.

This month, an open letter from a registered nurse in Fredericton drew attention to conditions on the unit, prompting an outcry from community and criticism from Premier Susan Holt.

Patients on the unit have to use a commode, a toilet seat with a bag attached, to urinate or defecate, while pails of water are used to wash up, people who had firsthand experience at the unit told CBC News.

Horizon announced Monday it would stop using the ambulance bay for admitted patients by the spring, by relocating some outpatient services into space outside the hospital.

But Margaret Melanson, the Horizon president and CEO, also said the announcement was not related to the backlash this month.

"We certainly recognized right from the beginning, when this unit was opened in 2024, that this was far less than ideal space," she said Monday. "This was not a space that was providing the quality of care that we wanted to provide to our patients and families.

"We absolutely understood that this was a temporary measure to be taken ... and this is why the planning started almost immediately toward some of these other solutions."

Horizon did not mention the relocation plan in any statements to CBC News responding to concerns about the MTU earlier this month.

Horizon's plan will move outpatient electrodiagnostic and respiratory therapy services out of the hospital and into the community.

Ambulatory care clinics, now located on the 4 West inpatient unit, will move into that freed-up space.

Those changes will leave enough room on the 4 West inpatient unit for the medical transition unit, allowing the hospital to stop using the ambulance bay for those patients.

The health authority did not provide the new location for the outpatient services, saying in a statement that the information would be shared "once all details are confirmed."