Horizon planning childcare for health staff in Saint John, Fredericton

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As elected officials plead with Vitalité Health Network for updates on a daycare pilot in Campbellton, Horizon Health Network said it’s weeks away from announcing details on childcare projects for health staff in two other New Brunswick cities.

Margaret Melanson, Horizon’s president and CEO, said in a statement on Thursday the network is “actively working” toward providing daycare services in Saint John and Fredericton, in collaboration with the hospital foundations.

“We have made very good progress to date, and we hope to have further announcements later this spring,” Melanson said in the statement.

In early 2022, Horizon completed a two-week survey about the possibility of creating a daycare program either onsite or near the Saint John Regional Hospital and the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton. According to the Horizon website, to properly plan for the project and appropriately meet the staff’s needs, the health authority is looking to better understand how many children and what age groups would be potentially using the program.

Melanson noted there was also a longstanding daycare at The Moncton Hospital. Greater Moncton School of Discovery has a childcare centre out of the hospital, and Melanson said it is “well used” by staff and members of the community.

Meanwhile, at a Vitalité Health Network board meeting last week, municipal leaders and members of the Restigouche Regional Service Commission asked the health authority for an update on a pilot project for a daycare near the Campbellton Regional Hospital and the Restigouche Hospital Centre.

Brad Mann, chair of the service commission, said some health staff in the area were prevented from returning from maternity leave and others chose not to accept a position at either of the hospitals because of a lack of childcare.

The service commission was told there would be a daycare in September, he had said, but there had not been any news when the centre would open.

The municipal representatives argued the ideal space for the childcare centre would be a former addictions services building on Gallant Drive between the Campbellton Regional Hospital and the Restigouche Hospital Centre.

Dr. France Desrosiers, Vitalité’s president and CEO, said having a daycare has been part of the health authority’s vision, but it was looking for a partner to operate the centre, and planned to put out a request for proposal.

“We need support,” she said during the question period.

Campbellton Mayor Jean Guy Levesque had said the municipality was working on creating close to 200 housing units, but health staff and young professionals would not come to the region without childcare.

“We really need this daycare,” he had said. “It’s a cry from the heart.”

Desrosiers said in an interview with Brunswick News after the meeting that having a daycare near the hospitals could be attractive to health care staff, but noted Vitalité’s mandate is to run the health care system, and it did not have the capacity to run the daycare.

Vitalité said in a statement on Friday the health authority has explored various options and identified a “safe location” near the hospital can be used for the daycare project.

“Unfortunately, we cannot confirm any more details for now, as planification is still under way and many variables are involved,” the health authority issued in the statement.

“We understand that this project could be greatly beneficial for the community as daycares are well needed, and for us as a recruitment and retention tool.”

Dr. Paula Keating, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, said the medical society supports calls from the Restigouche Regional Service Commission to establish a daycare program for health-care workers.

“Access to childcare has repeatedly been identified as a primary factor in the ability of health professionals to keep working,” she said. “Many physicians, especially those newer to practice, have young families and childcare is major concern.”

The medical society has long advocated for government-supported childcare programs to be made available for health-care workers, said Keating, noting it would not only allow physicians currently practising in New Brunswick to return to work sooner or more completely, but would also serve as a “legitimate incentive” in recruiting new physicians to the province.

“We encourage New Brunswick to follow the lead of Atlantic neighbours Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in supporting the establishment of childcare services in convenient locations and with hours suitable to the 24/7 schedule of many health professionals,” said Keating.

Nova Scotia trying daycare pilot

In Nova Scotia, the provincial government announced last year it partnered with a childcare centre in Sydney to provide evening, weekend and overnight childcare options to health-care workers at Cape Breton Regional Hospital. The project launched in the fall and will be evaluated  after six months.

New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development spokesperson Judy Désalliers said in an email Thursday the department’s job is to ensure designated early learning and childcare spaces are allocated to projects in areas of “greatest need” and to provide support to operators so they can open their services, such as capital funding.

The department recently launched an open call for proposals, which invites existing and prospective operators to apply to open new designated spaces for children aged five and under.

Brunswick News asked the department for an update on the childcare centres in Saint John and Fredericton, but did not get a response by press time.