Minister admits 'seamless' transition on virtual care has been rocky

Dr. John Dornan promises improvements will be made, especially when it comes to prescription renewals

Article content New Brunswick’s health minister says he’ll take the blame for promising a “seamless transition” when the province switched virtual health-care providers, admitting that the changeover has led to a delay in prescription renewals. Dr. John Dornan held a rare midsummer news conference on Wednesday to answer a slew of questions following the transition from eVisitNB to Virtual Care NB on June 30. During a stormy debate in the legislature earlier this year, the health minister promised a smooth changeover.

“I take the blame for claim that it would be seamless,” he said Wednesday in Fredericton. “It’s clearly not without concerns, so I take the blame for that.” The minister acknowledged that the Holt Liberal government didn’t anticipate how many people would seek prescriptions with the new provider, which is run by Foundever, the same company that’s operated the province’s TeleCare 811 phone system for many years.

Delays in the system have led to a slew of complaints. “First of all, we didn’t anticipate that volume,” Dornan said. “We are working to meet those needs, number one.

Number two, many people are using the old provider rather than their primary care provider. They should have been going there in the first place. The third part of that is that, you know, we want to use our services appropriately.

Virtual care is one aspect of it. We are hopeful that people will understand that there’s other times that they should be in another place, their doctor’s office, and the pharmacist, and maybe even in the emergency environment.” Still, Dornan insisted the change was for the better.

The former company, which was run by a local firm in Woodstock, didn’t offer as much francophone service for the one-third of New Brunswick’s population that mostly speaks French, Dornan said. And he cautioned that prescriptions, especially for complex medical needs, should be carefully monitored by physicians and other health-care providers to ensure the best health outcomes, not just by virtual appointment. He said to improve the situation, a new online option would be provided for people seeking prescription renewals.

More to come...