Horizon Health hopes a new team of health-care providers can improve emergency department care in Sussex and help lead to a return to 24/7 service.
Nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, and advanced care paramedics are now part of the ER team.
Dr. Serge Melanson is the executive clinical/academic head of emergency care with Horizon Health.
Melanson said the health-care professionals can be used in both non-urgent and emergency cases.
“For example, someone coming in with a serious medical condition requiring the need to put them on a ventilator or something of that nature may have the physician and the respiratory technician working hand-in-hand and collaborating on the case,” said Melanson.
“Another instance might be where someone comes in with an emergency, but one that is not life-threatening, that could be managed by a nurse practitioner or by an advanced care paramedic, and then the physician themselves would be freed up to do other things and to treat sicker patients.”
Horizon also looks to hire physician assistants
Nurse practitioners are currently seeing patients every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the health centre, while three of four full-time respiratory therapist positions have been filled.
Nine advanced care paramedics have been hired on a temporary basis as part of a pilot project in collaboration with the Paramedic Association of New Brunswick. The specialized paramedics are trained to handle more complex medical interventions.
Horizon is also looking to hire four physician assistants and establish a virtual support model so the clinical team can connect with an emergency physician when one is not available.
The additions come as the health authority looks to restore 24/7 ER services at the Sussex Health Centre.
ER closed at night for nearly 2 years
Since September 2022, the emergency room has only been available during daytime hours due to a shortage of physicians.
There are eight full-time vacancies for emergency medicine physicians in the Saint John health zone, which includes the Sussex Health Centre, Saint John Regional Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and Charlotte County Hospital.
Melanson said it is still too soon to say when the emergency department could have 24/7 coverage restored.
“Once we have those eight positions filled, we’ll certainly be in a position to re-examine when we can rescale to 24/7, which is ultimately what we want to do … but it’s very difficult because it’s a moving target,” he said.
Three candidates are set to begin work in the area over the next couple of months and other prospects are lined up for early 2025, according to Melanson.
He added they hope the additional health-care providers working in Sussex can help attract more ER physicians to the region.
“Once we put this complete package together, this is going to be one of the most well-supported emergency departments in the province in terms of resources that have been dedicated to it.”
