Patient Medical Home Model Rolling Out in Sussex to Improve Primary Care Access

Access to primary care in Sussex is a central challenge. I am so pleased with Horizon’s announcement that the Patient Medical Home model will be rolled out in Sussex, greatly improving primary care access

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From Brad Perry at Acadia Broadcasting:

Horizon Health is rolling out a new primary healthcare model in Sussex.

A nationally recognized collaborative primary health care model is being rolled out within the Horizon Health Network.

The Patient Medical Home model brings together physicians, nurse practitioners, and other providers under one roof.

Margaret Melanson, the interim president and CEO, said the interdisciplinary model sees patients attached to a truly collaborative team.

“Do you need to see the doctor, or if you are a diabetic, could you see the nurse? Do you need help with your medication? In that case, maybe you need to see a pharmacist,” Melanson told reporters after a recent board meeting.

The goal, she said, is to help reduce the number of New Brunswickers who are waiting for a primary care provider.

Melanson said they are working to expand the model to new sites in Sussex, Sackville and Fredericton, which have been identified as the highest priority.

The health authority is also modernizing its 46 existing community health centres through the model. Five sites have already been completed, with 12 others planned for 2024.

Melanson said the model will allow physicians and nurse practitioners to have a larger patient roster since they will not need to see each patient every visit.

The interim president and CEO said the collaborative model is also what medical students are learning when they are taking their training.

“They graduate wanting to come into a setting that is established for them, where they’re working with a team and providing care for their patients, not having to be businesspeople and worrying about rents and some of these other things,” she said.

Melanson was also asked about the enhancement of the electronic medical system, which she said is “integral” to this collaborative model.

“The electronic health record allows care providers within this collaborative setting to all be documenting concurrently for that patient, so someone reading could see the visits that were held with a physiotherapist as well as with the doctor and so forth,” said Melanson.

“It’s also important between settings. If someone is going to an emergency department, then a care provider would be able to look at that record and see what had occurred at that local site that they would have been receiving primary care at.”

Statement on Sussex & Area February 29th Flood Event

For people who have never had their home flood and their property destroyed, it is hard to understand the devastation Thursday brought to so many homes throughout the riding, especially in Sussex.

It’s exhausting, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s expensive. And it takes a very long time to get things back to rights. Some things can be replaced, and many others cannot be.

This community and its people mean the world to me. It is my home and it’s where I choose to raise my family, and the grit of the people here is incredible given their repeated, tragic experiences with the power of water.

There’s a flood mitigation plan the town has been fiercely committed to for a couple years now. It’s in the federal government’s hands.

While there is a lot of frustration over repeated disasters, the town’s leadership is second-to-none when it comes to these situations. The province’s Public Safety department that’s involved in every community’s emergency response says this community is exceptional in its focus and response during these disasters, so I want to give praise where it is deserved.

In 2014 and again now in 2024, it was the perfect storm of many factors that caused the devastation it did, including climate change. That’s just the reality. That doesn’t mean we can’t do our very best collectively as three levels of government to mitigate this risk. But it does take all three because of the cost and extent of the plan, and it does start with Ottawa as the senior level of government and funding partner.

My cabinet colleagues Public Safety Minister Kris Austin and Transportation Minister Richard Ames were here on Thursday within a couple hours of me asking because I needed them to understand what people are facing and I wanted them to talk directly with the mayor in the throes of all this. And their support at the table is important to me as these conversations unfold around this funding piece.

MP Rob Moore was in Ottawa on Thursday when the flood struck but he reached out to me and will be pushing his federal counterparts to take the necessary first step for this project to be supported federally.

And again this evening Premier Blaine Higgs contacted me to check in on the community and to commit to looking at the ways we can do our part provincially to help fix the problem.

I will do everything I can to work as part of the three levels of government to get this mitigation plan funded.

For anyone who needs help reporting your damage for Disaster Financial Assistance, we are happy to help at my constituency office at 77 Wheeler Road in Four Corners.

Figure Skaters Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko Host Clinic for Young Skaters in Sussex

Exposing young people to role models in sport is inspirational and a learning opportunity second-to-none, that is for sure, but these stars also set an example of what is possible with a lot of committment and discipline. Saturday in Sussex figure skaters Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko hosted a clinic for young skaters. What an incredible day. I was so happy to provide support as minister responsible for sport in the province with a regional sport and recreation grant from our sports branch.