Scrapped health reforms linger over Sussex campaign, with hospital's fate a top concern

Seven months ago a crowd gathered outside the Sussex Health Centre to protest significant health-care reforms the Progressive Conservative government had planned for six small-town hospitals across New Brunswick.

A lot has happened since February, but Apohaqui resident Jill Beaulieu remembers well the three days spent in frigid temperatures. Beaulieu was initially concerned about losing overnight emergency room service, but the more she listened, the more red flags appeared.

"This plan has many changes, and I became equally concerned with plans that basically would involve closing active hospital beds and turning our hospital into an extended-care facility," Beaulieu told CBC News this week.

The plan to reduce ER hours and convert acute-care beds into long-term care at hospitals in Sussex, Sackville, Grand Falls, Caraquet, Perth-Andover and Saint-Anne-de-Kent created immense political strife. The PCs lost their deputy minister and a Vitalit Health Network board member also resigned.

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The pushback from the opposition and the public was vehement, and in less than a week the premier scrapped the plan. Blaine Higgs cited poor communication, lack of consultation and a messy rollout plan in his reasons.

In the months to follow, the PC leader committed to not reducing ER hours on several occasions, including a campaign stop in Sussex on Tuesday.

Yet the issue persists. And not only does it persist, the future of health care in Sussex is the main election issue for the riding of Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins.

"There was no resolution," Beaulieu said, citing the cancelled health-care summit to discuss a long-term vision for rural health care.

"There's a feeling, for me at least, of this unfinished business."

The trust factor

Sussex Mayor Marc Thorne said he knows health care is top of mind for the community, despite hearing the reassurance from Higgs. He said the reforms extended well beyond a reduction in ER hours, saying primary health care for the area was at stake.

"I've been very clear that I remain concerned because the same folks that made the decisions about what the reforms will look like in February are, in fact, the people that are sitting around the table today," Thorne said.

Opposition parties looking to unseat the Tories have been keen to suggest a Higgs majority could jeopardize local health services.

"People don't really trust this government," said Liberal candidate Cully Robinson, a former educator and a Sussex resident who ran for the Yukon Liberals in 2011.

"That's because I ask people. I say, 'Do you think we can trust this government to maintain a full suite of services at our hospital if they gain a majority?' And the answer is always emphatically no.

"Mr. Higgs is addicted to austerity."

Robinson said any cuts to the hospital not only impedes access to primary health care but economic growth by making it tougher to attract doctors, other professionals, new families and services.

The Liberal candidate said aid for small businesses in the form of working capital and effective startup programs is needed, and he said fracking, if done safely, could be a job creator as the province transitions into a green economy.

Newcomer takes PC reins

Longtime PC MLA Bruce Northrup held the riding with ease since he was first elected in 2006, securing at least half of the votes cast in the past four elections. But Northrup, who opposed the health reforms, has retired from politics, and Tammy Scott-Wallace won the nomination.

While Scott-Wallace is a newcomer to politics, she's a familiar name in the area after working as a journalist there for 25 years. She left Brunswick News in 2019 and opened her own communications company.

She said the idea to seek public office originated when community members came to her with their concerns about hospital cuts. She told CBC News she shares the same values Higgs does and respected the decision "to not only reverse but say they were wrong and they were mistaken."

But the issue continues to dog her campaign, despite her and her leader's insistence service reductions aren't coming.

"I'm telling people there will not be a reduction in ER hours and there will not be a reduction in acute care beds," Scott-Wallace said.

On the issue of trust, she said Higgs's commitment isn't a sudden campaign pledge to appease voters; he's been consistent on the matter for months. She said transparency in government "is vital to ensuring trust among the people," adding any discussions on the hospital's future must include the public and health-care providers.

Scott-Wallace said other key issues include economic development in the region and continuing the recovery after the loss of the potash mine and more than 400 jobs in 2016.

She said developing natural resources, such as natural gas, wind power and geothermal energy, can play an important part.

Alliance sees opportunity

Opposition parties see opportunity with unease over the hospital coupled with Northrup's departure, and People's Alliance candidate Jim Bedford is confident in his second shot at the seat.

Bedford, a Fairfield resident who owns a supply and service business with his son, was the lone candidate in the 2018 election to boost their party's share of the vote. He finished second behind Northrup's 3,816 votes with 1,874 of his own, more than 600 more than Liberal Ian Smyth.

He more than doubled the votes the Alliance received in 2014. However, the party is polling well below where it stood in the 2018 campaign.

The former St. Martins fire chief was heavily involved in the community as a first responder and part of the emergency management team before heading to Alberta to open a business. He returned to the area five years ago.

He said supporting small businesses through tax cuts and helping navigate red tape is a priority, but his main concern is health care. He, too, is skeptical of Higgs.

"That's fine and dandy that the premier made this statement and he's made it several times," Bedford said.

"If Mr. Higgs is going to change direction, why would he not replace that [Horizon] CEO?"

Echoing his Alliance Leader Kris Austin, Bedford extolled the virtues of a minority government.

"The People's Alliance have actually proven to the public that minority governments work, and the proof of that is these hospitals, the rural hospitals are still open today," he said.

Green, NDP candidates

Tim Thompson is running under the Green banner again, almost a year removed from his bid to be MP for Fundy Royal. The military reservist who grew up in Quispamsis said the once-community-run hospital needs more autonomy in how it operates.

"We need to ensure we're bringing the ownership of that hospital back to the community of Sussex and fully funding it, and I would actually like to see us expand and start taking the burdens off the three major cities," Thompson said.

On other issues, Thompson said he wants to see the Fundy Parkway trail completed in a timely and proper fashion to boost local tourism as well as better stewardship of local natural resources, including no fracking and more sustainable forestry practices.

Jonas Lanz is running for the NDP on a platform to improve workers' rights and wages in the province. Born in Germany, Lanz moved to New Brunswick in 2007 and works as an operator at the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John.

The Rothesay resident, who is campaigning outside his home riding, is hoping to see workers empowered to speak up on issues such as safety and liveable wages.

He also identified health care as a key issue in the riding.

"People in both rural and urban New Brunswick need the basics," he said. "It doesn't help a lot of people if we focus on being on the cutting edge of things in one or two cities of the province if the rest of the province doesn't have the basics."