​Long-Term Care is beyond Crisis in New Brunswick: it is catastrophic and a risk to the Health of New Brunswickers

Hats off to the Holt government for initiating more collaborative clinics and getting the approach to licensure of foreign-trained physicians producing tangible results.  They are apparently acting with some swiftness to commence reforms that have been needed for decades.  Health Minister Dr. Dornan seems to be off to a good start. 

Finance Minister Rene Legace sent the first signal from government that I have heard since 1992:  he used the language of reform in referring to the health portion of the budget.  Previous governments have avoided using the language of reform.

The discouragement that tens of thousands of New Brunswickers have experienced for the last two decades has been deep seated and justified.

The feelings of discouragement have been equally palpable when persons in need of emergency care describe their challenges with the full waiting rooms and corridors filled with sick people.  One of the root issues there has been the hundreds of beds occupied by persons awaiting proper long term care placement.  These have all had volumes written about them in these newspapers.
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Over 40 years ago, in the late 1970’s and the 1980’s, health economists and public health leaders made a simple and profound observation:  if you think things are tough in health care now, just wait until the Baby Boomer generation hits the system.  The system has had 4 decades to prepare for the level of distress that was forecast at that time. 

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