Report to the Community: a review of recent months at Vitalité Health Network

Vitalité Health Network, Thursday, April 18, 2024 – Today, Vitalité Health Network released its most recent Quarterly Report to the Community entitled Rising above challenges.

The creation of local family health teams, an innovative solution to improve access to primary health care, has progressed rapidly and is already producing results.

Six local family health teams with 33 doctors and 8 nurse practitioners are now active, and 22 teams are currently being built.

The average access time was reduced from 12.62 days to 7 days, and 4,116 people were added to the 40,071 patients included in the model.

A referral centre for the Edmundston region is up and running. It is supported by a new women's health centre and a new urgent care centre for minor and urgent cases.

Efforts to optimize patient flow within hospitals continue.

A series of initiatives, from the training of discharge planning teams to the collection of data to support the management of hospital activities and the creation of communication tools to better inform and involve families, aim to ensure that a bed is available as soon as a patient needs acute care.

“The coming years will see an increase in health care needs. The Network is preparing for this: our trajectory is clearly defined and our capacity to adapt is stronger than ever,” said Dr. France Desrosiers, President and CEO of Vitalité Health Network.

For the second year in a row, the number of new hires at the Network has exceeded departures.

From April 1 to December 31, 2023, the nursing workforce (registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, attendants) was bolstered by 198 new hires, compared with 117 departures.

Thanks to our recruitment efforts with international individuals, as well as New Brunswick graduates and health care workers from other provinces, we expect to see an increase in the number of recruits in 2024.

Some of the other highlights of the Quarterly Report include:
  • The early mobilization program; teams of kinesiologists are now helping inpatients with a range of exercises designed to speed up recovery and prevent deconditioning;
  • Achievements in surgical services; the wait list for patients who have been waiting more than a year for hip or knee surgery has been eliminated; 
  • Patient care attendants have been added in the Emergency Department at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont UHC to check the vital signs and status of patients in the waiting room;
  • Training of specialized hemodialysis patient care attendants;
  • Reduction of work accident rates and sick leave;
  • Meetings with communities to tailor services to their needs.

“Quarter after quarter, the Network's teams demonstrate their commitment to the health of all by participating in modernization efforts and the implementation of new solutions. The achievements presented in this document bear witness to this,” said Thomas Soucy, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Vitalité Health Network.

For further information, please see our Quarterly Report posted online.

The report will be presented at the public meeting of the Board of Directors taking place on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. Individuals can attend in person at the Quality Hotel & Conference Centre, located at 157 Water Street in Campbellton, or virtually via Zoom.

A period will be set aside at the end of the meeting to answer questions from the public. Interested parties can participate online or in person or send us their questions in advance to engagement [at] vitalitenb.ca (subject: Participation%20to%20the%20April%202024%20Board%20of%20Directors%20meeting) .

Journalists wishing to arrange an interview may do so by writing to media [at] vitalitenb.ca.