Healthcare Pilot

Fundy Shores is looking to increase access to health care in its municipality with a pilot project.

The municipality has developed the Paramedicine Clinic Pilot, a project that aims to recruit paramedics and other health professionals, including licensed practical nurses and registered nurses, to run a clinic residents can visit for preventive care.

Fundy Shores Mayor George “Denny” Cogswell said the municipality decided to explore the pilot because access to health care was one of the “main things” residents were looking for.

“We felt that paramedics in the province are very well underutilized as health-care professionals, and we thought that would be a good place to start,” he said.

Cogswell said some of the services residents wanted access to included blood work, diabetes management and getting prescriptions filled.

He added that in a rural community like Fundy Shores, which has 2,200 people, health-care providers such as paramedics or registered nurses “could get a lot more health care done.”

“Paramedics right now are doing a lot — they are running an emergency room within an ambulance — so why can’t we take some of that out there and put it into a clinic?” he said.

Cogswell said the project is still in its early stages but noted the municipality has shared the pilot with the Paramedic Association of New Brunswick for feedback, which he said has been positive.

The municipality has also shared the pilot with the Department of Health and is waiting to meet with officials to explore funding options, Cogswell said.

If it can secure funding, Cogswell said the municipality would build a clinic in the new community complex it is developing, which he expects will be completed by 2030.

Paramedics association open to pilot project but highlights hurdles

Chris Hood, executive director of the Paramedics Association of New Brunswick, said that to move health care forward, “we need to think out of the box.”

He believes the pilot project Fundy Shores is exploring is a positive step toward better access to health care for the community. But he said the municipality will need to set up the clinic in a more collaborative way.

“It’s all good to take an X-ray and put a cast on, but then someone needs to deal with the follow-up care,” he said.

Hood also said the municipality may face challenges in recruiting and retaining staff and may have to find a way to “sell” the community as a place for health professionals to practise.

Despite some of the kinks that may need to be worked out, Hood said the association is open to working with the municipality and providing advice as it explores the pilot project.

“We are interested in all kinds of innovation, and we need to think about that more, so I encourage communities to reach out if they are thinking about these types of things,” he said.