The MLA for Fredericton-Grand Lake says he's hoping to discuss the possibility of merging New Brunswick's two provincial health authorities into one during a caucus retreat next week.
The former People’s Alliance leader, turned Progressive Conservative MLA, Kris Austin, told reporters Wednesday he believes the move could strengthen health care in New Brunswick.
“I don't think we should have this competition between health authorities in New Brunswick,” Austin said. “We need to find ways to ensure that human resources, services, and everything that the Department of Health delivers is delivered in a seamless way.”
Austin doesn’t believe the merge would violate the Official Languages Act, which states that each linguistic community has a right to their own distinct institutions – specifically in education but also in culture.
Austin says merging the two would still respect the communities where each hospital or clinic is located.
“To me, this is not a language issue. This is an issue of health care. Good health care. And I think we need to talk about it and I wanted to raise that as a point for caucus next week,” he said.
The PC caucus is holding a retreat next week in Miramichi, N.B. -- a strategic move, as there are two provincial by-elections scheduled in the city for June 20.
However, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said, while health care will certainly make the agenda, the idea of one health authority will not.
“The issue we're talking about is coordinated health care. It's not about a merger. There won't be any discussion about a merger. Because that's not on the table,” he said. “We're going to talk about an integrated health-care system that works cooperatively together throughout the province so we can keep raising the bar on service delivery.”
Health Minister Dorothy Shephard agreed.
“I'm not having a conversation on merging when I have a full plate of health care crisis to deal with in our province,” she said.
Shephard said her mandate letters to Horizon and Vitalité Health Networks included instructions for collaboration between them, and other health-care partners. She also says she believes that collaboration has actually improved during the COVID-19 pandemic.
