Systemic change, support required to revive N.B. health-care system, says medical community

Sarah Ecker, a Fredericton registered nurse, listened in to Premier Blaine Higgs's press conference on Friday. She had mixed feelings, but grew increasingly disappointed as it went on. 

Following a death in a New Brunswick emergency room, Higgs announced he had dissolved the boards of Vitalité Health Network and Horizon Health Network, the health minister would swap positions with the social development minister and the Horizon Health CEO had been fired.

Ecker was happy to see Dorothy Shephard removed as health minister, but was surprised to hear that Dr. John Dornan, CEO of Horizon, was fired. 

Higgs bypassed any sort of accountability, said Ecker. She said there's a personnel crisis in New Brunswick and the short-staffing problem won't be solved by shuffling management.

"[Higgs] mentioned people getting their vitals done in the ER while they're waiting, yes, that is an awesome intervention that should be done, but if you've got four nurses working in ER and people come in with a big emergency, like, something has to give," she said.

"There's only so many people. You can only do so much."

She said adding new policies and procedures will just add more stress to the front line. 

Nurses' voices are not being heard, said Ecker. She hopes front-line staff are given opportunities to share their opinions and that the government recognizes the need for more staff. 

"I really think they need to work on the morale," said Ecker. "It's like one of those cyclical problems where you need more staff to bring up morale, but you need better morale to encourage more staff."

Higgs said during the press conference that he was "appalled" by the death in an ER waiting room. Ecker said it's not a new problem and there was some accountability attached because this situation made the news.

Ecker said the health-care system is on "thin ice."

"COVID just shone a flashlight on an issue that was in the dark and it's just bringing all of those cracks to light now," she said. "It might be the straw that breaks the camel's back."

Ecker said Horizon staff received a notice earlier in the week asking staff to wear masks in public and lead by example. She thinks Dornan saw that having a healthy staff would make an immediate impact for the good of the health-care system. 

Ecker called dissolving the health authority boards a "unilateral power grab."