A new urgent care clinic in Fredericton is intended to reduce the strain on emergency rooms and make sure patients are seen faster.
Horizon’s Fredericton Urgent Treatment Centre is located in Brookside Mall and open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays.
The centre is for people with immediate but not life-threatening needs, including cuts, skin infections and rashes. It will also provide ultrasounds and X-rays.
“If a patient dies in a waiting room, not getting a chance to be seen, there are no words that could comfort such a family. The only thing that can help is an effort to try to serve better,” Dr. Krishna Pulchan, Horizon’s head of emergency medicine, said.
Angela Crandall said she needed stitches after her sister’s dog bit her. She waited four hours at Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital on Tuesday but went home after she was told she might have to wait 10 more hours.
She went to the clinic on Wednesday and said without it, she would have had to manage her symptoms at home.
“I think it’s a good thing. I think they might need more around the city,” she said.
In a statement, the president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, Dr. Paula Keatings, said other centres have already had difficulty hiring enough staff. She said the centre could take physicians away from family practices and increase the wait-list of people needing a family doctor.
Nicki Lyons-MacFarlane hasn’t had a family doctor since 2020 and has had to manage health conditions through online appointments.
“It’s going to be a huge relief for so many people, myself included, knowing that we can go into a space and be seen in person,” Lyons-MacFarlane said.
But Lyons-MacFarlane also said the timing and location of the centre are inconvenient.
Horizon plans to expand the clinic to seven days a week next year and increase its capacity, including staffing more than one physician.
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