Vitalit's new primary-care teams rollout on 'pause' amid funding shortfall

VitalitHealth Network says itsnew primary health-care teams are working as planned, but it has to "hit pause" on creating any more because it has alreadyrun out of funding for 2024-25.

There are currently 12 of these local family health teams, made up of 153 family doctors, 17 nurse practitioners and 45 otherhealth professionals, according to the quarterly reportRising Above Challenges, presented at theboard of directors' meeting TuesdayinMoncton.

Together, the teamshave accepted about 14,000 "orphaned" patients within the past six months about half of all Vitalit'sdoctorlessspatientsand reduced the average wait for patients to eight days from 12,said assistant CEO Patrick Parent.

Another 14teams were in the works, with enough interest from doctors for at least 20, he said.

"Unfortunately at this point we have reached the cap of the budget that was allotted by government and we're going to have to press pause essentially for any new teams," Parent told CBC News.

Some of the communities being "put on hold"for new or additional teams include Moncton-Dieppe, Saint-Quentin-Grand Falls, Kent County, and Caraquet, he said.

Amount requested in dispute

According to Parent, Vitalit had requested a budget of $56 million"to be able to properly deploy across the entire network," but the provincial government provided only $13 million.

Department of Health spokesperson Sean Hatchard told CBC Wednesday that thehealth authority requested $20 million, not $56 million. He confirmed $13 million was provided "to enable the health network to continue to execute on their plan and demonstrate its impact."

Vitalit officials could not immediately be reached to explain the discrepancy.

But Parent contendsthey need "far greater funds to be able to commit to these family physiciansbecause they're leaving, you know, solo practices and they have to make a commitment to completely remodel.

"So we have to be serious in that intent and provide them with some comfort" through multi-year deals, he said.

Good return on investment, argues assistant CEO

While the communities put on hold aredisappointed,Vitalitisn't giving up, said Parent. Just last week officials met with members of the Department ofHealth and provided a "deep analysis" on the return on investment.

"Itbasically highlights the fact that the model will pay for itself and additionally will generate savings to the rest of the health-care system," by helping toreduce costly hospital visits and also reduce hospital wait times.

The department had been requestingmore information about Vitalit's primary health-care teams for "several months," according to Hatchard.

"Government has a process to consider requests for additional funding that occur during the fiscal year. When such a request is made, it is important that there be accompanying information that demonstrates the impact of the investment," he said in an emailed statement.

The department received a "substantial submission" from Vitalit on June 21, which is being reviewed and officials are working withVitalit to receive "additional information,' he said, without offering any specifics.

Province's plan may be 'creating challenges'

As of last year, only 79 per cent of New Brunswickers report having a permanent family doctor or nurse practitioner, accordingto the New Brunswick Health Council's survey on primary carereleased last week.Only about 31 per cent of the more than 5,000 adults surveyed said they could get an appointment with their primary care provider within five days.

The province's primary health care action plancentres around creating incentives for providers to join team-based practices under the Family Medicine New Brunswick model, which was launched in 2017 and has failed to grow as expected.

In the meantime, the government hasimplemented some short-term solutions, such as N.B. Health Link, which provides people with access to a network of family doctors and nurse practitioners while they wait to be matched with a permanent provider.About59,000 people haveregistered so far and roughly7,600 of them have secured a permanent care provider, officials have said.

Vitalit's teamsare community-specific "operational models" that provide doctors with the support they need, said Parent, noting71 per cent of the health network's family doctors have enrolled within less than a year.

Every team is connected to its own referral group responsible for quickly guiding patients to the right service provider, according to the report, which coversApril to June 2024.

"The objective is to provide access to service within five days along with enhanced follow-up by developing an interconnected system," it states.

International recruitment may include Vietnam

Meanwhile, international recruitment efforts to address nursing shortagescontinue,saidvice-president of employee experience Frdric Finn.

Vitalit representatives attended job fairs in Morocco, France and Belgium in the fourth quarter of 20232024. Nearly 200 potential hires were identified at these events, and Finn said the recruitment team is working to confirm them.

Additional missions are planned for Morocco, France, Belgium and Tunisia this summer and fall.

"And a new market we're exploring with our partners at Department of Health and [Post-Secondary Education, Training and] Labour is Vietnam, which has a large sort of French as a second language component," Finn told CBC. "So it could be a potential pool for us that we haven't quite tapped into yet."

He could not immediately say how much Vitalit has spent on travel, or how much more it plans to spend.

166 international recruits

But between April 1, 2023 andMarch 31, 2024, 166 international recruitsaccepted job offers, he said. Of those, about 100 have already started workingas patient care attendantsuntil they're accredited as registered nurses.

Vitalit has also created an immigration supportservice fornew international employees, to "promote a smooth integration and ensure retention," said Finn.

Four immigration advisors, two administrative assistants and a team leader ensure compliance with immigration laws, regulations and policies. They also providepre-arrival information sessions covering various aspects of life in Canada, helpfinding accommodations and childcare, and job search support for spouses.

Vitalithas 435 international employeeson temporary work permits, including international recruits, as well asstudents or other international candidates recruited locally. That's about seven per cent of all staff, said Finn.

"And it is going to increase in the next few years because we know that the domestic supply is not enough for all our needs."