FAMILY HEALTH TEAMS

Horizon Health Network is establishing Family Health Teams to enhance the delivery of primary health care for New Brunswickers. This collaborative model has been proven to provide better access and an improved patient experience by bringing together different health care professionals with a variety of competencies, skills and experiences to address the needs of the patients they serve.

Instead of being matched with a single provider, New Brunswickers will be matched to a Family Health Team in their community, ensuring they can access the right health care from the right practitioner, at the right time. 

Within a Family Health Team, care is centred around the patient. This neighbourhood-based model addresses the unique needs of a population and supports the health and well-being of our health care workforce. The goal of Family Health Teams is to provide primary care services within five days, either virtually or in person, based on the nature of the health concern. Ultimately, this model will ensure all New Brunswickers have equal access to high-quality care, no matter where they live within the province.

 

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE ECOSYSTEM

The exact makeup of each Family Health Team is meant to serve each unique community. The number and types of health professionals within a team will depend on the size and the needs of the community they serve. While patients will not necessarily see a physician at every appointment, they will see the most appropriate practitioner to address their specific health concern. This helps ensure people who need care can access it more quickly. Each member of the Family Health Team works together to provide comprehensive and efficient care for patients.

Horizon is in a transition state of establishing Family Health Teams throughout the areas we serve, with nine currently in development. At the same time, we are bolstering our existing 46 community health centres to deliver team-based care and transition them into full Family Health Teams. While teams will be launched in all of the regions we serve by 2029, there may not be a Family Health Team in your community at this time.

As new local Family Health Teams are established, New Brunswickers without a primary care provider who are registered with the provincial waitlist (NB Health Link) will be contacted and matched with a team in their community.

For now, we are taking preventative measures to enhance primary care while continuing to develop new Family Health Teams. Recognizing that thousands of New Brunswickers are served by a primary care provider who is nearing retirement age, we are working closely with these providers to help them transition their roster of patients to a Family Health Team, ensuring their patients will continue to have access to care. When a physician does retire or leave a community unexpectedly, we are establishing interim Community Access Clinics to meet immediate needs.

Horizon is taking a flexible approach, working with providers, communities and other partners to explore solutions that will best meet the needs of the patients we serve. As a result, we intend to prevent the NB Health Link patient registry from growing. As more Family Health Teams are introduced, we will make progress in reducing the list, ensuring all of the patients Horizon serves have access to primary health care.

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