New Brunswick’s Opposition leader is calling on the Liberal government to put off the province’s planned shift to a new virtual-health-care provider.
Glen Savoie, leader of the Progressive Conservatives, said Friday the government should reconsider the contract it signed with Foundever Assistance Services Corp.
He made the comments after a local newspaper published a letter to Premier Susan Holt and Health Minister John Dornan from concerned nurses who are raising questions about how the company operates.
In the letter, more than 70 virtual-care nurses say the Foundever platform will not allow them to provide the same level of care they now provide through the existing eVisitNB platform.
The letter, published yesterday in the River Valley Sun, suggests Foundever’s by-appointment model will drastically reduce the number of patients who will receive service on a daily basis.
The New Brunswick government has already signed a two-year, $26-million contract with Luxemburg-based Foundever to provide virtual care starting July 1.
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“They’re driving at 100 miles an hour towards a wall on this and all we’re trying to do is say pump the brakes, get this thing right, and if you feel you can’t, get out of it,” Savoie told reporters Friday.
Dornan, the health minister, said in a statement later on Friday that, despite the concerns raised by nurses, the transition from eVisitNB to the Foundever platform would move ahead. He noted that the government awarded the contract following a competitive bidding process.
The minister, who confirmed he received the letter, said he’ll be meeting with Foundever next week as part of the planned transition process and said he anticipates “learning more about how they plan to address these concerns.”
The health department is “confident in their ability to provide high-quality virtual care services,” Dornan said of Foundever, describing the company as a “trusted health system partner” that has operated in New Brunswick for 28 years.
Foundever and the Nurses and Nurse Practitioners Association of New Brunswick were not immediately available for comment.
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