David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @alllibertynews and 49 others
Reply to Fred Estey:
Methinks its obvious that 15,208 patients in Fat Fred City agree with you so there is no need to make fun of that fact that your hero Higgy denies my right to Medicare N'esy Pas?
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/07/flemming-denies-favouritism-in.html
#nbpoli #cdnpoli
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/four-family-physicians-fredericton-area-1.5659907
4 family doctors leave their practices in Fredericton area
Patient Connect NB says 15,208 patients are on waiting list for doctors in Fredericton region
· CBC News · Posted: Jul 23, 2020 9:16 AM AT
Horizon Health Network says it's recruiting more family physicians for the fall. (Hannah McKay/Reuters/Pool)
Four family physicians in the Fredericton area have recently left their practices, Horizon Health Network has confirmed.
The health authority said the doctors each had their own reasons for leaving. Four new family doctors are expected to arrive in the city "sometime this fall."
"We are continuing to prioritize the recruitment of physicians throughout our organization," Dr. Edouard Hendriks, vice-president, medical, academic and research affairs for Horizon Health Network, said in an emailed statement to CBC News.
One of the family doctors is Dr. Ann Collins, who will be leaving her post as a family physician in Fredericton to become the next president of the Canadian Medical Association, which advocates on subjects related to national health.
Collins, who has been a family physician for more than 20 years, has more than 3,000 patients in the Fredericton area who will be seeking a family doctor.
Dr. Ann Collins will be leaving her family practice in Fredericton to become the next president of the Canadian Medical Association. (Canadian Medical Association)
The other three family physicians are Dr. Jacques Béland, Dr. Achla Pond and Dr. Sunita MacMullin, who stopped working in Fredericton in April to work full-time in Sussex.
In 2018, MacMullin left her practice because of a lack of "on-call" support from other doctors in her family physician group. She later returned to her practice and alternated weekly visits in Fredericton and Sussex.
According to the province, MacMullin billed just under $1.7 million during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019 — leading the list of top billers in New Brunswick, ahead of radiologists.
MacMullin said she was recently told by the Department of Health to leave her practice in Fredericton because she had too many patients.
"I was working too hard essentially," she said.
Dr. Sunita MacMullin of Fredericton has moved her practice to Sussex full time. (Facebook)
Now the family doctor drives from her home in Fredericton to her office in Sussex, as do many of her patients, she said.
In 2018, MacMullin had more than 1,900 patients in the Fredericton area. But she has a relatively old practice after taking over Dr. Russ King's practice a few years ago.
"I really feel bad for Fredericton," MacMullin said. "They deserve better. They're great patients."
Thousands without a doctor
Patient Connect NB has a list of 15,208 patients waiting for a doctor in Zone 3, which covers Fredericton and the St. John River Valley, and 36,928 patients across the province waiting for a doctor."We believe New Brunswick offers a lot to any physician looking to build a medical practice and enjoy an exceptional quality of life, and we are committed to sharing that message at every opportunity," Hendricks said.
Dr. Ed Schollenberg, registrar for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick, wouldn't comment about the four doctors leaving their practices.
"We don't always know when a doctor leaves or where they might intend to practise," he said in an email.
He said there is always doctor turnover at this time of year because trainees finish their residencies at the end of June, Doctors either moving or retiring "seem to like this time as well."
Lack of doctors a concern
Dr. Chris Goodyear, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, said the organization is concerned about the lack of family physicians and specialists across the provinces.Physician retirements or departures put additional strain on our health-care system," he said in a statement.
Since the end of the billing number system in 2019, the New Brunswick Medical Society, said it has been working with government and the regional health authorities on physician recruitment, and a physician resource strategy, which Goodyear said would improve recruitment.
Every year, Goodyear said, New Brunswick competes with every other province to attract and retain physicians.
"Physicians are in great demand across Canada, and they are highly mobile," Goodyear said.
About the Author
65 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.
David Amos
At least the folks who have no family doctor have a Health Care card to cover costs if they need medical attention. While I have no card even though I have a doctor hence I have to pay thanks to Higgy et al
Fred Estey
Reply to @David Amos: Methinks it's better to have a doctor than not. N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Reply to @Fred Estey: Methinks its obvious that 15,208 patients in Fat Fred City agree with you so there is no need to make fun of that fact that your hero Higgy denies my right to Medicare N'esy Pas?
Winston Gray
Reply to @David Amos: you probably aren’t sharing the whole story David, regular people don’t just lose Medicare for no reason.
David Amos
Reply to @Winston Gray: Wanna argue me in court about it?
David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Winston Gray: I see 3 people in NB who could be you Which one should I call?
Ray Oliver
Reply to @David Amos:
Will the restigouche give you a ride to the court house for the
afternoon or you still in that padded room
Douglas James
My doctor recently 'fired' me as a patient because I complained about his rushing me in and out of his office in two minutes or less, failing to send me for blood tests for over two years (I'm a long-time Type 1 diabetic), failing to do a physical in four years etc. When he offered to take me on as a patient, he asked me to promise him to tell him if I had any issues related to his service or the patient/doctor relationship. I guess he wanted to know so he could later weed out patients who actually want health 'care' instead of assembly line medicine that is focused more on the financial health of the doctor than the physical and mental health of the patient.
Donald Smith
Reply to @Douglas
James: I hear ya man, been there myself a few times. Thing is Doug, some
think they are Gods, sad. Good luck bro`
David Amos
Reply to @Douglas
James: Methinks Higgy et al must recall the last time doctors in New
Brunswick pretended to care about my mental health they falsely
imprisoned at the request of the RCMP,. However once it was discovered
that the doctors could not get paid because the government had put a
"Stay" on my Medicare to they set me free much earlier than they were
planning to.Trust that your party leader knows that for political
reasons Higgy et al still won't release the "Stay" on my right to FREE
Health Health Care to this very day N'esy Pas?
David News
So much white noise around the issue of doctors billing, when the billing is a construct of the province and how it forces doctors to bill but does not take into account that the doctor will have many staff, equipment and other expenses. So the top line Billing makes the headline. That would be like a busy McDonald's franchise saying they sold 1.5mm in burgers. But the franchisee might see 10% of that if they are lucky. So once again government misdirection on the numbers skews the picture.
Donald Gallant
Reply to @David News:
The white noise is the overhead deflection.
The issues are excessive volumes of patients and billing’s .
The white noise is the overhead deflection.
The issues are excessive volumes of patients and billing’s .
Lou Bell
Reply to @David News:
Many staff ??? How many staff does one Doctor have / need ? My Doctor
has ONE receptionist ! No one else ! Shares an office with 3 others .
Each has their own receptionist . How much is a Receptionist these days ?
And equipment ? If Equipment and ONE Receptionist costs a half million
a year , that woud leave a cool million left for many of the Doctors .
Try harder
Winston Gray
Reply to @Lou Bell: doctors work more hours than receptionists generally, so you’d need 2 at least.
Maybe you should have been a doctor Lou, you seem to know everything about every subject on every article on CBC.
Maybe you should have been a doctor Lou, you seem to know everything about every subject on every article on CBC.
Lou Bell
Reply to @Winston Gray: The 4 Docs in the office of my Doc work 4 days a week !
David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Winston Gray: "you seem to know everything about every subject on every article on CBC."
Methinks the same can be said of you N'esy Pas?
Reply to @Winston Gray: "you seem to know everything about every subject on every article on CBC."
Methinks the same can be said of you N'esy Pas?
Winston Gray
Reply to @Lou Bell: and then they do hours at the local emergency room
https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies
David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks this will be old news in a heartbeat once the corporate media figures out that Higgy is planning to have the writ dropped for a general election in early September N'esy Pas?
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/07/flemming-denies-favouritism-in.html
#nbpoli #cdnpoli
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/monica-barley-vitalite-board-appointment-pc-ted-flemming-1.5653868
Flemming denies favouritism in appointment of ex-PC leadership candidate to Vitalité board
Monica Barley ran for the Progressive Conservative leadership in 2016
· CBC News · Posted: Jul 20, 2020 6:00 AM AT
Monica Barley, a bilingual Moncton lawyer, was chosen because of her qualifications, said Health Minister Ted Flemming. (Paul Hantiuk/CBC)
Health Minister Ted Flemming says there was no political favouritism in his appointment of a former Progressive Conservative Party leadership candidate to the board of the Vitalité Health Network.
Flemming said he approved the choice of Moncton lawyer Monica Barley because of her qualifications, not because of her PC ties.
"Monica Barley is smart. She is bright. She is a successful person both in law in business and I think she would be a great contributor to the board," he said.
"I don't know where the Liberals all of a sudden find out that to have any exposure to anyone on a political basis disqualifies you from public service."
Barley ran for the PC leadership in 2016, a race won by Premier Blaine Higgs. Flemming endorsed her in that race.
'Doesn't pass the smell test'
"This thing doesn't pass the smell test," said Liberal MLA Keith Chiasson."You're asking a former candidate to the leadership … to sit on the Vitalité board, knowing that the next couple of years will be very important because of the health reforms that Higgs wants to put forward. … If it looks fishy and it smells fishy, it must be fishy."
Barley is one of three new appointments to the board, along with Bathurst lawyer Liza Robichaud and Dr. Aurel Schofield of Moncton.
All three will be interim members until those elections take place.
Vitalité CEO Gilles Lanteigne said the health authority went looking for qualified people with skills that the board needed and then recommended the names to Flemming.
Gilles Lanteigne, president and CEO of Vitalité Health Network, recommended Barley and the others to the health minister. (Radio-Canada)
He said he didn't know Barley had been a PC leadership candidate until partway through that process.
"For some reason, I didn't even know she had presented herself" for the leadership, he said. "I'm not sure when I arrived and when that occurred, but I don't really remember her being in the picture."
Lanteigne became CEO in 2015 so he was in the job when Barley ran.
Barley did not respond to a request for comment.
Denies plan to revive reforms
Flemming also rejected Chiasson's suggestion that Barley was put on the board to pave the way for health reforms.In February, he and the two health authorities announced the nighttime closure of emergency departments at six small hospitals, a move designed to free up doctors to see more patients during the day when demand is higher.
Higgs cancelled the plan and promised not to proceed without community consultations, which have not happened yet because of COVID-19.
Flemming said it's "absolutely untrue" that there's a secret plan to revive the reforms. "I reject that to the fullest extent."
In March, Higgs promised emergency departments would not close in return for getting support from opposition parties to pass his budget quickly at the onset of the pandem
Health Minister Ted Flemming said having the most competent people is what's most important. (Submitted by the Government of New Brunswick)
New Brunswick's two health authorities have boards made up of eight elected members and seven appointed members.
Lanteigne, who will retire as Vitalité CEO in October, said he would prefer to see an all-appointed board chosen on the basis of qualifications.
"When you're elected, these people are always sort of caught in between the role they perceive as representation of the population that has elected them, and their role looking at rules and regulations, what are the laws and mandate of the organization and fulfilling them."
He said that was what happened with two board members, Norma McGraw and Jean-Marie Nadeau, who quit earlier this year over the health reforms.
Flemming said he agreed that was an issue and would not rule out changing the legislation in the future.
"The acts says what it says, for now," he said.
"At any time we should be constantly looking for self-improvement, and the world of governance changes, and we should be focusing at all times on best practices.
"I think it's important we have the most competent, capable and able people that we can get. … Any government of any political stripe should in my judgment work toward that end."
54 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.
David Amos
Methinks this will be old news in a heartbeat once the corporate media figures out that Higgy is planning to have the writ dropped for a general election in early September N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Welcome back to the circus folks Now do tell who believes anything a political lawyer says as he appoints another political lawyer to a fancy job?
Survey Says?
David Amos
Content disabled
Methinks its kinda
aggravating to get another bill from Lanteigne for Health Care Services
that are free for everyone else. Whereas he and his boss Flemming don't
call or write me back perhaps the lawyer Monica Barley can make their
boss Higgy see the light and remove the "Stay" on my right to a Medicare
Card before I sue the Queen again N'esy Pas? Dave Nicholson
Ted Flemming bloody co-chaired the dumpster fire that was Monica Barley’s PC party leadership campaign. Did he recuse himself from the process of awarding her this board appointment which will impact the healthcare for hundreds of thousands? Not sure which is most concerning:
1) Ted Flemming watched Kielburger brother’s ME to WE scandal in Ottawa but still did not recuse himself? Should we pass a nationwide law against family political dynasties?
2) Everything political Ms. Barley touches has died. Fact. Are Barley and Teddy Flemming going to take down the whole Higgs’ government as encore to rural ER fiasco that caused MLA’s in Sussex & Shippagan to announce their departure from the Higgs’ PC gov’t?
3) Higgs’ lead PC’s never seem to cotton-on that Liberal Grits are the inventors and masters of opposition research in a modern Canadian political campaign. Does anybody advising Premier Higgs realize this perceived conflict-of-interest story could be leveraged to influence the 800 swing voters who decide a provincial election in New Brunswick?
4) Ted Flemming’s undying love for a second-helping of fried chicken and a good cigarette. This one is petty, but I like my Minister of Health to actually be relatively health conscious.
Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Dave Nicholson:
Cheer up man.............. they could have appointed Kevin Cormier.
Cheer up man.............. they could have appointed Kevin Cormier.
David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Dave Nicholson: Methinks even Cardy won't share his butter tarts with that lawyer anymore N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Enjoy the latest scoop from Higgy;s blogging buddy in YouTube Premier Blaine Higgs Coon to call Provincial Election in September debate by David Coon and Blogger!
77 views
•Jul 20, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMiVA_vHclQ
Jos Allaire
How come they did not appoint Lou Bell?
Rob Sense
Reply to @Jos Allaire:
Too many appointments already
Too many appointments already
David Amos
Reply to @Jos Allaire: Methinks everybody knows they could never get her to clam up N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Jos Allaire: Methinks Lou finnally clammed up N'esy Pas??
Ben Haroldson
If it isn't patriotism, what is it?
David Amos
Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Methinks you meant patronism N'esy Pas?
"Patronism is a practice or a culture in business and society that is based on personal relations for advancements in position, income, and exposure. Under a system of patronism, prominent or powerful people determine or influence decisions based on their own criteria or interests."
"Patronism is a practice or a culture in business and society that is based on personal relations for advancements in position, income, and exposure. Under a system of patronism, prominent or powerful people determine or influence decisions based on their own criteria or interests."
Archie Levesque
Reply to @Ben Haroldson: patronage?
Alex Stevens
Competent is not a word I would use in the same sentence as Ted Flemming.
David Amos
Reply to @Alex Stevens: Nor I
Donald Gallant
Reply to @Alex Stevens:
Fleming is better than Rogers and Gallant .
Fleming is better than Rogers and Gallant .
Rob Sense
Reply to @Donald Gallant:
When he can stay awake through an entire meeting!
When he can stay awake through an entire meeting!
David Peters
Mixing politics and healthcare has been a very bad idea, imo.
David Amos
Reply to @David Peters: YUP
Bill Vasseur
When was the lat time any politician from any side said or did anything that "passed the smell test"?
David Amos
Reply to @Bill Vasseur: Methinks it was on or about the 12th of Never N'esy Pas?
Terry Tibbs
I'm fairly sure, that there isn't one among us, who can claim to be surprised, or amazed, by this news?
David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: It sure ain't me
David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Howcome you don't call?
Ben Haroldson
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: But there are lots of us who are disgusted....again.
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