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Health Minister John Dornan said Woodstock-based eVisitNB will continue to provide virtual health-care services to New Brunswickers for another 90 days after March 31.
Last month, the province announced that eVisitNB’s contract wouldn’t be renewed and instead a new company would take over the service.
Foundever, a Luxembourg-based company who operates the province’s 811 Telecare service, is supposed to take over by April 1.
Dornan told reporters on Tuesday the company is not ready.
“The new provider is not ready to take over the service as of April 1 and we are expecting eVisit and the new provider to work together so that as of July 1, people will experience the same benefits,” said Dornan.
He added that despite the new provider not being ready, “it’s not fair to say there is a delay.”
eVisitNB, a Woodstock-based company started by Dr. Hanif Chatur in 2020, is near the end of a four-year contract with the province. (eVisitNB)
Dornan also said Foundever doesn’t have a signed contract with the province to do the work.
“We are negotiating with the new provider currently … it’s in the middle we’ve identified a preferred provider, we’ve been talking with them and we’re very close to signing a contract,” said Dornan.
He said there were 11 applicants to take over the service and Foundever was the province’s first choice. Dornan said there’s no reason to believe the first choice won’t deliver the service.
Dornan said New Brunswickers will have “seamless” virtual care with no gaps during the next few months of transition.
Opposition parties call for local options
The 90-day extension is built into eVisitNB’s four-year contract, which expires this month.
But, opposition parties don’t believe Dornan’s claim that the extension doesn’t signal a delay.
“We don’t have a contract with Foundever and that’s not a delay? I don’t know what else you’d call it — mismanagement, incompetence,” said PC MLA Bill Hogan
Hogan, the representative for Woodstock-Hartland, is hoping eVisit will still have a chance to renew their contract.
“I would like to see the contract be extended indefinitely because it works really well and I don’t know why we want to reinvent the wheel when it already works well,” said Hogan.
The Green Party also had a pitch to replace Foundever.
Leader David Coon thinks the delay will give the Liberals time to consider Vitalité Health Network to take on the service.
“Bring virtual health care into the public system rather than negotiating with another company to run it privately,” said Coon.