Dear colleagues, It has been quite a week. Responding to questions, concerns, and protests, government and the regional health authorities announced Sunday evening that they have cancelled their plan to close emergency departments overnight in six communities and redistribute resources to regional hospitals. But this is not the end of their plans to reform the [Read More...]
Dear Members, The Department of Health and regional health authorities today announced significant changes to how emergency care will be provided in New Brunswick. These changes include reducing the hours of six emergency departments to 16-hour days. Effective March 11, the emergency departments at Sussex Health Centre, Sackville Memorial Hospital, Hotel-Dieu of St. Joseph in [Read More...]
Dear Colleagues, The Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell has issued an update on the novel coronavirus that has caused an outbreak of viral pneumonia in China. A single case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus has been confirmed in the U.S. I urge you to read Dr. Russell’s update along with this memo on diagnosis of the respiratory [Read More...]
Dear Members, With the start of a new year and new decade, I wanted to reach out to give you a sense of what the next few months will look like for the New Brunswick Medical Society. At the NBMS board’s fall meeting, it approved a new strategic plan for the organization that sets direction [Read More...]
Dear Colleagues, I hope you are enjoying the holiday season with your family and friends. As we wrap up 2019, I want to thank our members for their tremendous efforts over the past year caring for New Brunswickers in a challenging health environment. The New Brunswick Medical Society had a tremendous year in 2019. It [Read More...]
Dear Colleagues, On Sunday, Dec. 15, the billing number system was eliminated. The NBMS has been advocating for physician recruitment to be modernized for years, and we are pleased to see the provincial government follow through on its commitment to shift to a more flexible, responsive process to manage physician allocation and improve health-care access. [Read More...]
Dear Colleagues, The following is an update on the status of Velante and the Provincial Electronic Medical Record (EMR). As you know, the provincial government announced on Sept. 25 that it is opening the market for EMR vendors in New Brunswick. This does not mean that the EMR product currently being used as the Provincial EMR is [Read More...]
Dear Colleagues, Dr. Jennifer Russell, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, has asked for the New Brunswick Medical Society’s assistance in spreading word about the influenza vaccine supply challenges. Dr. Russell’s office has informed us that, “there have been unforeseen supply issues and surge in demand creating significant challenges across all jurisdictions in Canada.” Physicians [Read More...]