Blaine Higgs speaks with reporters on Aug. 17, 2020, after meeting with the lieutenant-governor and asking her to dissolve the legislature. (Photo: CPAC screengrab)
The leader of New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative party emphasized he would not be closing or reducing hours at emergency rooms in the province.
Blaine Higgs spoke outside the Perth-Andover hospital, one of the 6 that were at risk of losing overnight ER services in the party’s previous healthcare plan.
“But how to we manage the hospitals together, how do we look at the demographic that we have and the fact that we have 30% maybe 40% of seniors that are in hospitals. We have a lot of seniors that have moved into the appropriate levels of care and we did that during COVID to free up and be ready should it spread into our province like it did in other provinces,” he says.
But Higgs says we are still facing challenges over the next 20 years around a lack of existing infrastructure and healthcare providers.
He says he’s committed to communicating with health professionals and the community to improve the level of care for senior in hospitals.
If re-elected, the Progressive Conservatives promise to provide seniors with high-dosage flu vaccines, free of charge.
Higgs says as a province with the highest percentage of aging population, this will help keep our seniors safe and alleviate the strain on our healthcare system.
“The higher dose of antigen in the vaccine gives people over the age of 65 a better immune response and therefore, better protection against the flu. Seniors are also more likely to have other medical conditions,” he says.
Higgs says 8 other province and territories have already introduced the high-antigen vaccine, including the other three Atlantic provinces and Ontario.
Last spring, his government also committed to the creation of New Brunswick’s first-ever vaccination registry, which has become all the more important in light of the COVID pandemic.
The PC party also announced a commitment to continue to work with the province’s pharmacists.
Higgs says their spring budget included an expansion of pharmacists services so patients can access the services they need without having to visit a doctor.
“While the pandemic is far from over, some early lessons are clear: pharmacy professionals are vital to our healthcare system. As we seek to modernize our healthcare system, pharmacists must be part of that change,” he says.
The Higgs Government promises to establish a working group between the Government of New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Pharmacists’ Association.
Higgs says the group’s mandate will be to identify new ways to work together to improve access to health care for all citizens.
