Why one family doctor says she had to leave New Brunswick

A former Saint John family doctor says she sold her practice of more than 5,000 patients and left New Brunswick after Horizon Health refused to accommodate her medical condition.

Dr. Julie Hildebrand, who has diabetes, said she was "disappointed and sad" to leave thousands of patients, some of whom she had cared for for 10 years, and wants to speak out about what is required of some doctors who choose to work in New Brunswick.  

"There was no system to help or to support doctors like me," she said. "You're on your own and that's it."

This month, Hildebrand filed a complaint with the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission about her treatment working in the province. 

"If I don't speak out, if I don't say anything about what happened, if I don't try to promote changes, what have I done? Why did I have to endure and suffer this condition?"

Hildebrand came to the province from Montreal in 2012 after being recruited straight out of her medical residency.

"They attract you," she said. "They have a nice package. They're welcoming you. The hospital looked amazing."

She was also attracted by the "great need" she saw in Saint John. 

"I met very, very sick people that were without doctors," she said.

Her practice soon grew to 2,000 patients, and she was working 70 hours a week — and only continued to grow. 

"Eventually, we went close to 6,000 with the medical cannabis patients that I was seeing," she said. "I had a huge, huge practice."

According to Dr. Ed Schollenberg, registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick, a more typical practice size in New Brunswick would be 1,500 to 2,000 patients. 

But the massive size of Hildebrand's practice was not the problem, she said. 

In addition to her own patients, her contract with Horizon stipulated that she perform hospital rounds, also called "hospital inpatient services."