New Brunswick’s Chief Medical Health Officer calling for an overhaul of way government thinks about health care in this province, saying going down the same well-trodden path is unsustainable and won’t make us healthier.
In an article written for the Journal of New Brunswick Studies, Dr. Eilish Cleary lays out the argument that the main objective for a health department should be to improve the health of the population and you won’t accomplish that by just pouring more money into infrastructure for the sick like more beds and more drugs.
Cleary says if we want to be successful we have to put the well-being of the people first. She goes on to say a charge must immediately be given to the Department of Health to truly become a Department of Health and not only a Department of Sick Care.
The NB Medical Society’s Anthony Knight says there needs to be a continuum of of care from the early to late stages of life in this province.
He tells us any change in a system as large and complex as a health care system takes time and commitment and the indications they’ve seen from the Gallant government and new Health Minister show there’s now a more studious approach to health, one that will consider the facts and make change based on good evidence.
He says he’s optimistic we’ll see that going forward.
