New Mapleton Family Health Team to connect 700 patients to primary care over the next year

(MONCTON) – Horizon Health Network (Horizon) is pleased to announce the launch of its newest Family Health Team in Moncton.

Over the next 12 months, the Mapleton Family Health Team, located at 44 Mapleton Road, will onboard 700 patients who were previously without a primary care provider.

The Mapleton Family Health Team currently consists of two nurse practitioners and two administrative staff members, with an additional nurse practitioner expected to be added in the near future.

In the months ahead, the team will further expand to offer access to services provided by multidisciplinary team of allied health professionals, including social workers, dieticians and respiratory therapists.

“The Mapleton Family Health Team will play a key role in enhancing access to primary care for patients in the Moncton area,” said Margaret Melanson, President and CEO of Horizon. “This announcement reflects our ongoing commitment to team-based care as we take a more collaborative approach to delivering primary health care services in communities throughout New Brunswick.”

Premier Susan Holt said that establishing the province’s newest Family Health Team is an important sign of meaningful progress in improvements to primary care access for New Brunswickers.

“This is exactly the kind of solution we need more of, as we work to improve access to health care for New Brunswickers,” said Premier Holt. “Family health teams are a key priority area in our provincial health plan, as they will ensure more people have trusted providers to turn to. We are proud to support this innovative approach.”

Dr. Ravneet Comstock, Physician Program Lead, Primary Care, said Horizon is building on momentum and is continuing to engage with physicians and other health care professionals to reach the goal of matching all New Brunswickers in areas served by Horizon with a Family Health Team by 2029. Since the primary care strategy launched in April, nearly 8,200 patients have been matched with a team.

“Our goal is to keep expanding these teams across the province so that more New Brunswickers have access to the care they need – when and where they need it,” Dr. Comstock said. “Every month, we are matching new patients from the patient waitlist with a team in their community.”

Health Minister John Dornan noted that providing team-based, interdisciplinary care benefits New Brunswickers and is also an important recruitment strategy to attract physicians and allied health practitioners to work in the province.

“We are seeing the momentum build behind this new model of primary care,” said Health Minister John Dornan. “It is being embraced by health-care professionals, as well as patients, and we look forward to announcing more family health teams in the coming months.”

About Family Health Teams

Horizon’s transformative primary care strategy will establish Family Health Teams across the province, aiming to match all New Brunswickers who live in areas served by Horizon with a local team of collaborative health care providers by 2029. This best practice approach will 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.

Currently, five Family Health Teams are in various stages of implementation, including Fredericton North, Tantramar, Carleton North, Nordin and Mapleton. An additional six 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.

New Brunswickers who do not have a primary care provider should continue to register with the provincial patient waitlist (NB Health Link). 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 www.horizonnb.ca/primary-care. 

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