‘Mixed’ results on targets, Holt admits in state of the province speech

The government has hit 10 of its 15 short-term performance targets laid out by Premier Susan Holt, but has fallen back on one of the most top-of-mind objectives for New Brunswickers.

Holt used her annual state of the province speech on Thursday to update progress on the 15 targets she established in last year’s version of the speech.

She reported that the number of New Brunswickers with access to a doctor or nurse practitioner dropped to 72.5 per cent — significantly down from the 79 per cent figure she was hoping to maintain in 2025. 

About 238,000 New Brunswickers are without primary care access — about 40,000 more than when Holt set the target a year ago.

“That’s a number that keeps me up at night,” she told the crowd.

“I would call it the most important metric. It is our top priority, and it is the worst one of the bunch.” 

The figure includes people attached to the 11 new collaborative care clinics Holt announced last year to improve access to primary care. 

Holt’s longer-term target is 85 per cent in 2028, the year she seeks a new mandate from voters.

But her speech last year also laid out interim, year-by-year targets.

Falling short of the primary care number will make it even harder to hit the longer-term goal in time.

Still, she said, she is confident that actions the government took in the last year, including the new clinics and a new pay structure for doctors, will start to turn the situation around.

“I believe firmly we have done the right things in the last 12 months, and if we give it time … we will see the results we are hoping for,” she said.

Health Minister John Dornan, who appeared onstage with Holt during the speech, said “the plan will work.” 

There was one positive indicator for primary-care access in the numbers, which were displayed on large video screens in the Fredericton Convention Centre room where the dinner was held.