Horizon announces transformative strategy to enhance primary care access through collaborative Family Health Teams

(HORIZON) – Horizon Health Network (Horizon) has launched a transformative primary care strategy that will establish Family Health Teams across the province. The aim of the model is to match all New Brunswickers who live in areas served by Horizon with a local team of collaborative health care providers by 2029.

Funded by the Government of New Brunswick, this best practice approach has been proven to provide better access and an improved patient experience by bringing together different health care practitioners with a variety of competencies, skills and experiences to address the needs of the patients they serve. Family Health Team members will include a range of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, allied health professionals and medical office assistants.

Today, the Fredericton Northside Community Health Centre was announced as Horizon’s first Family Health Team, with more announcements to follow in the weeks ahead.

Margaret Melanson, President and CEO of Horizon, said that instead of being matched with a single primary provider, New Brunswickers will eventually 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 few years, Family Health Teams will ensure every New Brunswicker we serve has equitable access to high-quality care in a timely manner no matter where they live,” Melanson said. “We know that access to primary health care is a huge concern for many people, and we have made it a top priority by developing this impactful strategy. As we continue to roll out this model in the communities we serve, our goal is to provide primary care services to our patients within five days, either virtually or in person.” 

Government’s commitment to invest more in family health teams will support the goals of Horizon’s primary care strategy by enabling health care providers in communities across the province to create teams to meet the needs of each community.

“Today we celebrate the work that has already gone into creating and expanding the Fredericton Northside Community Health Centre team,” said Premier Susan Holt. “This is a great example of the kind of truly collaborative health care home where New Brunswickers can access care from the right person at the right time. Access to healthcare is the number one issue in our province today. That’s why our government is actively working to move the needle on New Brunswickers’ access to a primary care provider and access to care within 5 days.”

“It’s through the expansion and establishment of teams like this that we will ensure that New Brunswickers receive the right care at the right time,” said Health Minister John Dornan. “This will increase the number of people who are attached to primary care providers, reduce the pressure on emergency rooms, result in long-term savings, and ensure better care for everyone.”

Currently, nine Family Health Teams are in development. At the same time, Horizon’s 46 existing Community Health Centres are undergoing improvements and transformations to increase access and optimize capacity to serve patients within the Family Health Team model.

Established in 2021, the Fredericton Northside Community Health Centre currently serves approximately 6,400 patients. It will expand this summer to accommodate an additional 1,600 patients from the Fredericton Northside community thanks to the addition of two nurses and two part-time physicians. They will join an interdisciplinary team that includes physicians, a nurse practitioner, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, administrative support and access to a licensed counselling therapist, a social worker, a dietitian, a respiratory therapist, a pharmacist and a diabetes educator.

The team will move into an expanded space in the fall and will continue to add additional practitioners. Over the next couple of years, the team will have the capacity to care for all patients living in the community who do not currently have a primary care provider. 

Dr. Ravneet Comstock, executive clinical academic department head co-leader of Horizon’s Primary Care program, said this is just one example of what Horizon’s Family Health Teams will look like. In addition to benefitting patients, she said that this collaborative, interdisciplinary approach will support recruitment and retention efforts, as the model will reduce the administrative burden for providers, enable greater collaboration and improve work-life balance.

“Each Family Health Team will include different practitioners based on the unique needs of the community they serve,” Comstock said. “These practitioners may or may not be located in the same building, but they will have a central administrative team to provide support and an electronic record to ensure continuity of services. Ultimately, Family Health Teams will provide high-quality patient-centred care, while also ensuring our health care workers have access to the support they need to do their jobs effectively and efficiently.”

Comstock said that her team is also working closely with providers who are nearing retirement age 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, Horizon is establishing interim Community Access Clinics to meet immediate needs to ensure the provincial waitlist remains stable and does not continue to grow.

New Brunswickers who do not have a primary care provider should continue to register with the NB Health Link patient registry to be added to the provincial waitlist. As new local Family Health Teams are established, New Brunswickers registered on this list will be contacted and matched with a team in their community.  

Horizon will share regular progress updates at horizonnb.ca/primary-care.