New BrunswickThe Holt government is touting the expansion of a collaborative care clinic in Bathurst as a promise kept. Premier Susan Holt announced the expansion of the Clinique Médicale Centre-Ville at a news conference Monday.The government had promised to establish and support at least 10 collaborative care teams this yearJordan Gill · CBC News · Posted: Dec 08, 2025 3:43 PM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Premier Susan Holt announced the expansion of the Clinique Médicale Centre-Ville at a news conference Monday. (Victoria Walton/CBC)The Holt government is touting the expansion of a collaborative care clinic in Bathurst as a promise kept.Premier Susan Holt announced the expansion of the Clinique Médicale Centre-Ville at a news conference Monday.The government had promised to establish and support at least 10 collaborative care teams this year and the one in Bathurst is the tenth.“We have achieved the promise that we have made to you in delivering these clinics this year,” said Holt.“We are not done yet.”The team at the existing Bathurst clinic now includes six physicians, two nurses and four administrative support staff, serving about 5,800 patients, according to the province.WATCH | ‘We have a briefcase of more to come,’ says N.B. health minister:N.B. government meets goal of 10 collaborative care clinics in 2025With the announcement of the Clinique Médicale Centre-Ville in Bathurst, the Premier Susan Holt government says it has met its promise of establishing at least 10 collaborative care clinics by the end of the year. Health Minister John Dornan says the province is well on track to open 30 by the end of its mandate.While the Liberals initially pledged during the election campaign to “open” a total of 30 clinics by 2028, including 10 this year, Holt later “changed the definition” to include existing community care clinics that were adopting a “family health team” model.The 10 clinics are expected to take 14,000 people off the wait list for doctors, the province said Monday.Physiotherapists, pharmaciesHealth Minister Dr. John Dornan said the more than $1.5 million in new funding would help the Bathurst clinic partner with physiotherapists and pharmacies and would add training space in 2026 “ensuring this region continues to grow and train the next generation of providers.”In addition to the support at the Bathurst clinic, the province has also announced support for collaborative care teams in Campbellton, Moncton, Miramichi, Carleton North, Tantramar, Île-de-Lamèque, Fredericton, Edmundston and St. Stephen.The province is touting that 14,000 people have been removed from the doctor wait list because of the new clinics. (Victoria Walton/CBC)Holt said there are 8,800 people on the waiting list for a primary care provider in the region, but that will be “wiped out” in 18 months.“There are people taking new patients in collaborative care clinics across this region thanks to their adoption of the model that Vitalité has advanced, that our government is supporting and that the new contract supports as well,” she said.Premier, minister differ on difficultyWhile the province announced they would support 10 collaborative care clinics in the province in 2025, the announcement of the final clinic came in just under the wire, well into December.But Dornan didn’t appear too concerned about missing the deadline when speaking with reporters after the event.“It was a worry that we’d have too many,” he said.Health Minister Dr. John Dornan said he expects there will be 30 clinics within the next year or two. (Victoria Walton/CBC)“We are very bullish, optimistic. I have a briefcase of clinics that are ready to go in the next year, two years of our mandate. We’ll have 30 for sure. This was not a struggle at all.”Holt didn’t exactly share her minister’s unbridled enthusiasm.“I was a bit concerned that we made an ambitious promise of 10 and we announced our first one in April … so even our first few months went by and we hadn’t had a new clinic opened,” she said.But Holt was bullish about future clinics. She said the province has promised another 10 in the new year, but now thinks that number should be bumped up to 12 or 15.“We’re going to do as many as we can as quickly as we can,” Holt said.ABOUT THE AUTHORJordan Gill is a reporter based in Fredericton, New Brunswick.With files from Victoria Walton & Radio-Canada
N.B. announces collaborative care clinic in Bathurst, province’s 10th this year
