The New Brunswick government announced $25 million will be invested in a multi-year, multi-faceted plan to reduce hospital bed wait times, but exactly how the funding will be divided up is being kept under wraps.
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Premier Brian Gallant announced initiatives his government will fund over the coming fiscal year as part of a multi-year plan to curb the long wait times for hospital beds.
Initiatives like implementing a dementia strategy, hiring new physicians and adding more nurse practitioners were identified. But what the specific investments will be isn’t being released at this time.
“There’s going to be more details to come,” Gallant said.
Health Minister Benoit Bourque was similarly tight-lipped about funding details.
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“The idea here is to make New Brunswickers aware that we are investing immensely in health care through various initiatives,” he said. “So I think it’s important that New Brunswickers have that on their radar.”
Bourque shrugged off the notion that holding back the details for later is a political move, allowing for further announcements in the coming weeks and months ahead of the next provincial election.
“You don’t give the whole thing away. You kind of give it in small bites so it’s easier to chew,” Bourque said.
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New Brunswick Medical Society CEO Anthony Knight said even without specific investment details the initiatives outlined are key areas that have been identified as requiring improvement. Prioritizing them will help alleviate the challenges brought on by lengthy hospital bed wait times.
“We think these are important positive steps today,” he said.
“We’ll want to see the details of how the announcements actually flow and make a difference in the lives and care for patients.”
The 2018-2019 budget has increased funding once again for health care, a key factor identified by the provincial government as one of its three pillars, along with education and the economy.
The budge says $2.75 billion will be spent in the department this year, an increase of 3.7 per cent from the previous one, and 9.8 per cent since 2014.
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