FREDERICTON –
New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard is promising there are no hospital or emergency room closures in her health-care reform plan, slated to be unveiled Wednesday.
Shephard has been announcing some of the plan ahead of time, including a made-in-N.B. online portal to connect orphan patients with doctors and nurse practitioners.
She also released a letter, promising the plan “does not call for any hospital closures, nor does it include any emergency room closures … there will be no cuts to the health-care budget.”
That promise has some local leaders breathing a little easier ahead of the release.
“We’ll be watching as if Santa Clause was coming through the chimney,” said Campbellton mayor Ian Comeau. “We have to maintain what we have. The ICU, operating rooms, obstetrics, we’re hoping that things will actually get better in that respect.”
Sackville’s mayor tells CTV Atlantic he is also relieved to hear no hospitals or ERs will be closed. Shawn Mesheau also said he’s looking forward to more virtual care options.
Shephard said Tuesday there will be checks and balances to her plan – including an evaluation every six months on how things are going.
