NBHC CEO: Implementing new health plan requires shift in how the family doctor's practice should be defined

The CEO of the NBHC said for the province's health plan to work, the medical community and the public should move past the idea of primary care being a medical doctor with a solo practice. Stéphane Robichaud explained that N.B. has one of the highest proportions of family doctor practices practicing solo - a situation he says needs to change. According to a NBHC report on access to primary care, the province has one of the highest percentages of citizens who have a primary care provider in Canada but those who have a family doctor or NP still end up in the ER for care. Both the report and Robichaud said the core of this issue is solo practice because solo practitioners end up filling in at the hospital, a clinic or a LTC facility and are less available for their patients. He explains that what the province is proposing is a shift from "going to the doctor's office," to going to a healthcare centre where patients can see a physician, NP, a nurse, a dietitian or social worker, depending on their needs.