FREDERICTON — New Brunswick's Liberal party is promising to open a community health clinic in Woodstock, N.B., if the party wins the Oct. 21 election.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt made the announcement Friday while standing near a building that she said could house a functioning clinic by the end of next year.
"A petition was signed by more than 750 members of the community," Holt told a news conference, adding that the Progressive Conservative government led by Blaine Higgs promised six years ago to open a clinic in Woodstock, but failed to deliver on that pledge.
"For too long, Mr. Higgs … has taken Woodstock for granted."
The Liberals are pledging to build at least 30 clinics across the province over three years, bringing together doctors, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, psychologists, physiotherapists, pharmacists and other health-care professionals under one roof.
Holt said doctors and other health-care providers are eager to work in such clinics because the administrative support they provide can free them from paperwork and other time-consuming tasks that have little to do with helping patients.
The Liberals have already selected 10 communities that should get community clinics, based on previous talks that party officials have had with citizens and community leaders who support the idea and may have a building and staff ready to go. The proposed clinic in Woodstock would be the 11th clinic on that list.
“When we envisioned the community care clinic model, this is exactly what we had in mind," Holt said in a statement. "We’ve got local health-care professionals who are ready to roll up their sleeves alongside eager partners and space available to get things moving quickly."
Holt was accompanied by Marisa Pelkey, Liberal candidate for Woodstock-Hartland, who told reporters that many voters in Woodstock have told her their top priority is access to health care. She also confirmed that the community is ready to set up a clinic.
"We have the space," Pelkey said. "We have the professionals who want to work in this type of collaborative care clinic. We have the community support."
Holt cited figures from the New Brunswick Health Council suggesting 180,000 New Brunswickers don’t have access to a family doctor.
She said the Higgs government had promised to open four collaborative care clinics a few years ago, but not one has been opened. The government has opened some health centres, "some of which have a single nurse in them, some of which have a single doctor — none of which are modelled on team-based collaborative care," Holt said.
"This current government has made no progress on the primary care file."
Earlier in the day, Green Party Leader David Coon was in Rogersville, N.B., where he promised to reduce the small business tax rate from 2.5 per cent to one per cent, bringing it in line with the P.E.I. tax rate. Coon also said a Green government would raise the income threshold at which the higher corporate tax rate kicks in, from $500,000 to $700,000.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and some of the very best employers in our communities,” Coon said in a statement. "They generally buy local for their businesses and support other local businesses, creating community wealth. This makes for a vibrant and more resilient province."
Meanwhile, the Greens also announced they would create a department of community development and rural affairs in a bid to decentralize decision-making and support community-led regional development.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.
Hina Alam, The Canadian Press
