Collaborative care clinic in Tantramar promises to take all residents off waitlist within the year

Horizon Health is launching a new primary care clinic at the Tantramar Primary Health Care Centre in Sackville, and with the addition of more staff and space, it's expected to take all Tantramar residents off a years-long waitlist by next April. 

The clinic is defined as a family health team, and includes a physician, nurses, administrative staff and a range of other health-care professionals, including a dietitian, pharmacist, social worker and respiratory therapist.

Dr. Ravneet Comstock, Horizon Health Network's physician program lead for family and community medicine, said the model is a shift away from a solo practice where physicians and administrators are on their own.

"You don't have to carry the whole weight alone," said Comstock. 

"You have all these colleagues to run things by … We're trying to really develop these pathways of collaboration where the patient gets the best bang for their visit, they see the right person at the right time, and it will improve both their access to care and the quality of care."

The Tantramar clinic opened in 2023 after three health providers left within a three-month span, leaving 3,000 patients without a primary-care provider. 

Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black said that loss caused "a lot of heartache" in the community, and added further strain to resources. Many people were left seeking care at the hospital — which closes at 4 p.m. — with few other options. 

"Considering that health care in other parts of the province, and in other provinces, is also an issue, it means that somebody couldn't just drive to Moncton and go get services from a medical professional at the ER or in Amherst, because both of those places are also inundated and short."

Black said he knows of people who have been waiting for a doctor for nearly a decade — and many more joined that waiting list following the influx of people during Covid. He said he's optimistic about the new model of care for the community.

Dozens of new patients added weekly

Richard Lemay, director of primary health care for Zone 1, which includes the Tantramar region, said the clinic is now adding "at least 20 to 30 new patients per week" from the patient registry list. 

"We estimate … close to 1,400 people from the Tantramar area would still be on that list. So with the rate that we're onboarding new people now, we feel confident that we should be able to onboard those patients within the next year."

Premier Susan Holt has promised 30 new collaborative health-care clinics across the province to tackle a primary care waitlist of roughly 180,000 New Brunswickers. 

The Tantramar clinic is the third health centre in the province to be deemed a family health team. Earlier this month, Horizon Health announced it was expanding Fredericton's north side clinic with the addition of two new part-time doctors and two new nurses. The health authority said it will be able to take on 1,600 more patients using this new model. 

And the Lamèque Community Health Centre, which has also existed for years, is becoming a family health team with two new nurses and a social worker. The clinic will eventually add 3,500 patients over the next few years. 

Comstock said both health authorities are reaching out to physicians who are interested in this model of care.  

"So if we already have a group of physicians that's working together, how can we partner with them? How can we create a family health team for their community?"

She said the health authorities are working with what they have, including existing infrastructure — and a lot of physician-owned buildings — so the health teams will look different in each community.