{"id":42891,"date":"2021-03-02T10:47:50","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T15:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=42891"},"modified":"2021-03-02T11:42:15","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T16:42:15","slug":"mitton-encourages-sackville-to-show-up-and-speak-up-at-health-reform-consultations-on-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/mitton-encourages-sackville-to-show-up-and-speak-up-at-health-reform-consultations-on-thursday\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitton encourages Sackville to ‘show up and speak up’ at health reform consultations on Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton says it\u2019s hard to know what to expect from the first virtual session of the\u00a0province\u2019s health care reform consultation tour<\/a> taking place on March 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process at this point is still a little bit vague,\u201d says Mitton. \u201cBut I\u2019m confident that what I will hear is a lot of people from our communities, showing up online to talk about how essential the services that the Sackville Memorial Hospital provides are to our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitton says one of the concerns she\u2019s heard is that, \u201cthe consultations are just going to be a show, and that the government is already kind of set with what they\u2019d like to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that that\u2019s not the case,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Either way, Mitton is encouraging people to show up online on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. to, \u201cmake their voices heard about what you need and what is valuable in our communities.\u201d Mitton says she will be tuning in and taking notes, and bringing what she hears with her to the legislature.<\/p>\n

Mitton says she hopes the government will be listening for ways not just to maintain services, but to improve them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are things that we can do better and that we need in our rural communities,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

One of the issues she points out is that connected challenges that impact health care are often dealt with separately, in silos.<\/p>\n

\u201cIssues around long term care are dealt with separately from health care, when there\u2019s obviously clear links,\" she says.<\/p>\n

Mitton also mentions the retention and recruitment of health care workers and preventative health care as issues that often get left behind in health care discussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing with complex problems, is that also often means there\u2019s a complex solution,\u201d says Mitton. \u201cAnd not just one solution. It\u2019s solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re talking about our hospitals, part of what we\u2019re talking about is emergency care, acute care. That is really important, when you have been in a car accident, or had a heart attack, or have something urgent happening, you need that type of service to be available. You need an ambulance to be close, and you need an ER to be close,\u201d says Mitton. \u201cBut then there are things like preventative care, primary care, other types of care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public or social factors also play a role, says Mitton. Transportation, poverty, and nutrition all, \u201cfeed into ensuring that we don\u2019t have as many chronic illnesses that people are having to deal with,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese public health factors end up impacting people on an individual level. And if we don\u2019t take that into account, then we will continue to have people suffering the consequences with their health,\" she adds.<\/p>\n

Mitton refers to a recent report from the New Brunswick Health Council which shows a drop recently in life expectancy at birth for New Brunswickers, a stat that until recently had been steadily increasing for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat should not be the case,\u201d says Mitton. \u201cWe need to focus on how to make improvements. And again, improvements within healthcare but that system can\u2019t be treated as separate from every other system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The public consultation session on the future of health care in the province will come to Sackville, virtually, this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. To register, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To read the province\u2019s discussion paper on health care reform,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The public engagement schedule for New Brunswick:<\/p>\n