We all know healthcare is a mess, and we’ve lost many several doctors this year when there was already a massive shortage. Many of us discovered evisitNB, which for a period during this pandemic our government covered this service through Medicare. They have since moved to the platform Maple, which is partially privatized, we’ve lost several after hours clinics and the ones remaining are almost impossible to get into, resulting in many unnecessary ER visits but we aren’t left with any alternative. We were promised more doctors & Nurse practitioners, however this hasn’t come to fruition. We all deserve consistent access to healthcare. For many I’ve spoken to, including myself we deal with a variety of complex medical conditions, and going to clinics and ER’s every doctor has their own idea on how things should be treated. I myself recently had an ER doc who felt he knew better then my hematologist and changed my medication, within days I was in rough shape. As of December 31, 2020 there were over 44,000 people registered with patient connect waiting for a family doctor, a number that I’m sure has risen significantly since then, and that’s just for those who are registered, many are not. 
I recently had an appointment with a great Nurse Practioner and questioned her on why it was no longer funded via Medicare and was told it was because they moved to the maple platform. It would be cheaper to fund this then it would be to pay for all the ER visits, and it would alleviate some of the strain on our hospitals that are already overburdened. It’s not a permanent solution, we still need more doctors and NP’s but it would help in the interim. I have been fortunate to have had a great family doctor for just over 12 years, however he is relocating, so there’s another mass of people without a doctor. Speaking from experience,,continuity is so important, so even on the maple platform you can choose to see the same doctor/NP every time, giving you that continuity of care. Before my doctor that is leaving took me on, I was an absolute mess health wise, every doctor I saw changed my medication as I was basically nonfunctional, having consistent care made such a huge difference. I hope you will join in and sign this petition and share it with your local NB friends, we need to demand better, until they can ensure that every New Brunswicker has access to a family doctor, provide maple the funding so those of us without consistent healthcare have access to some real level of care, especially as this pandemic rages on. They should commit to covering this service until they can provide us with what they promised, we need this!