N.B. announces collaborative care clinic in Bathurst, province's 10th this year
CBC
The Holt government is touting the expansion of a collaborative care clinic in Bathurst as a promise kept.
Premier Susan Holt announced the expansion of the Clinique Médicale Centre-Ville at a news conference Monday.
The government had promised to establish and support at least 10 collaborative care teams this year and the one in Bathurst is the tenth.
“We have achieved the promise that we have made to you in delivering these clinics this year,” said Holt.
“We are not done yet.”
The team at the existing Bathurst clinic now includes six physicians, two nurses and four administrative support staff, serving about 5,800 patients, according to the province.
While the Liberals initially pledged during the election campaign to "open" a total of 30 clinics by 2028, including 10 this year, Holt later "changed the definition" to include existing community care clinics that were adopting a "family health team" model.
The 10 clinics are expected to take 14,000 people off the wait list for doctors, the province said Monday.
Health Minister Dr. John Dornan said the more than $1.5 million in new funding would help the Bathurst clinic partner with physiotherapists and pharmacies and would add training space in 2026 “ensuring this region continues to grow and train the next generation of providers.”
In addition to the support at the Bathurst clinic, the province has also announced support for collaborative care teams in Campbellton, Moncton, Miramichi, Carleton North, Tantramar, Île-de-Lamèque, Fredericton, Edmundston and St. Stephen.
Holt said there are 8,800 people on the waiting list for a primary care provider in the region, but that will be “wiped out” in 18 months.
“There are people taking new patients in collaborative care clinics across this region thanks to their adoption of the model that Vitalité has advanced, that our government is supporting and that the new contract supports as well,” she said.
While the province announced they would support 10 collaborative care clinics in the province in 2025, the announcement of the final clinic came in just under the wire, well into December.
But Dornan didn’t appear too concerned about missing the deadline when speaking with reporters after the event.
Crosswalk safety concerns outside Mountsfield Public School have parents worried for their children, with one parent reporting an incident that was "so close, it was terrifying."
Liberal opposition leader John Hogan is used to answering questions, but as the house reconvenes on Monday, he says he’s getting ready to ask them.
An education researcher says Nova Scotia is on pace to break previous records for the number of school days cancelled due to snow.
The federal natural resources minister says Ottawa hopes to accelerate the timeline for the Sisson Mine project.
Sabaah Khan started volunteering in the library of the elementary school her four children attend on Montreal’s South Shore eight years ago, when there was a shortage of parent volunteers.
A Winnipegger who spent years on a waitlist for a surgery that was not performed in Manitoba says he's mostly back to normal, and finally able to eat solid foods, after undergoing a final jaw procedure in Saskatchewan two months ago.
Denison Mines Corp. is moving ahead with construction of a proposed uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan now that it has approval from its board of directors, a licence to build it from the national nuclear regulator and the support of nearby communities.
It’s been a clash of worlds for Prince Edward Island artist JoAnna Howlett, whose first professional solo exhibition explores another important aspect of her life — fishing.
Two Ontario residents are urging the province to review and improve what they say is a "broken" system that's supposed to limit air pollution from big industries.
Politicians, prospectors and mining executives from across northern Ontario are in Toronto this week for the world's largest mining conference.
The City of Toronto is making drivers aware of an intersection closure in downtown Toronto beginning Monday.
A period of bitterly cold wind chills is expected overnight into Monday morning across Waterloo Region and Guelph.
Canada's seemingly breakneck effort to replace its aging submarine fleet hits an important milestone on Monday with the deadline for both the South Korean and German shipyards to submit their formal proposals in the more than $20-billion program.