“The St. Andrews Wellness Centre is a real crown jewel in New Brunswick's healthcare system," said Minister Shephard on her recent visit to St. Andrews.

Public Health is praising the local wellness centre and the physician recruitment team in Saint Andrews, which included Mayor Brad Henderson and long-time Saint Andrews physician Dr. Brian Peer and his wife Annette Harland, for attracting a second doctor to the community. The recently opened state-of-the-art wellness centre, which was funded by the Sir James Dunn Foundation and the Town of Saint Andrews, was a huge part of the draw for Dr. Julie Levesque-Taylor who relocated from Manitoba with her family to join Dr. Peer at the centre, allowing the clinic's roster of patients to double. Minister Shephard says Saint Andrews' proactive approach to recruiting a doctor should be a model to other communities.

Shephard visited the Saint Andrews Wellness Centre in part to discuss the role communities will play in achieving initiatives outlined in the new health plan, Stabilizing Health Care: An Urgent Call to Action.

"During our provincewide engagement sessions to develop our provincial health plan, we heard from many community stakeholders who want to be more involved in the health-care system,” said Shephard. “We want to take a more collaborative approach to health care and will work with communities to identify and address gaps in services, make the best possible use of our human resources and reduce emergency department visits.”

Public Health also recently released an ambitious health care plan that hopes to eliminate the wait list for family physicians for all New Brunswickers by 2022.