reported by Brunswick News<\/a> first back in 2023. The regional health authority recently details of a long-term plan with workers when they reached out to risk management and occupational health and safety departments.<\/p>\n![\"opening](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1695845024791-TJ_-_V2.png\"\/)
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But staff, who are \u201cfalling apart\u201d under current demands, are calling for Horizon to immediately reduce the workload in the short term, Carey said, until long-term solutions are in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does mean patients will have to wait longer, and that\u2019s the last thing that radiation therapists want,\u201d Carey said. \u201cThey have been really fighting hard against getting to that point for the last two years, but it\u2019s now too expensive for them to push through and try and make up for this deficit that rests on their shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s literally hurting them physically, mentally and emotionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Horizon has the option of sending some radiation oncology patients to Moncton\u2019s Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital, Carey said. The Dumont, which is part of the Vitalit\u00e9 Health Network, has the only other radiation oncology clinic in the province.<\/p>\n
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When asked if Horizon would use that option, Greg Doiron, the network\u2019s vice-president of clinical operations, said it\u2019s previously referred radiation oncology patients to the Dumont, but Horizon is \u201ccurrently meeting our wait time threshold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHorizon will be maintaining all planned patient therapies, with the most urgent cases being prioritized,\u201d Doiron said in a statement. \u201cThis may result in longer wait times for less urgent cases, as we continue with our recruitment efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two new radiation therapists starting this spring: Horizon<\/p>\n
Two new full-time radiation therapists will be starting at the Saint John Regional Hospital this spring, Doiron noted in his statement.<\/p>\n
The Saint John clinic will also see the addition of a radiation therapy licensed practical nurse and a relief team to backfill temporary vacancies, he said.<\/p>\n
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As for the reports regarding breaks and workplace injuries, Horizon CEO Margaret Melanson promised \u201ccorrective actions,\u201d including monitoring to ensure breaks are \u201cscheduled and respected\u201d and the support of Horizon\u2019s ergonomic specialist to find ways to reduce physical and cognitive strain on the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize that while recruitment is essential, it does not address immediate safety concerns,\u201d Melanson wrote in a letter to a worker in December. \u201cAs such, the corrective actions outlined above are intended to support staff safety and sustainability while longer-term recruitment efforts continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of late February, Carey reported that Saint John therapists hadn\u2019t seen the corrective actions implemented yet, and that concerns remain about a long-term solution to the ongoing shortage of radiation therapists in the region.<\/p>\n
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![\"Jennifer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0309-lb-radiation-clinic-2.jpg\")
Jennifer Carey is Atlantic Canada\u2019s regional manager of provincial services with the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists. Photo by Barbara Simpson\/Brunswick News<\/p>\n
Atlantic Canada doesn\u2019t have a radiation therapy training program, meaning provinces must compete for existing staff within the region and for new graduates from outside the region, according to Carey, who is CAMRT\u2019s regional manager of provincial services for Atlantic Canada.<\/p>\n
In the next decade, Moncton\u2019s radiation oncology clinic will see 12 of its 29 radiation therapists eligible to retire, Carey said, with seven of them meeting retirement age in the next five years.<\/p>\n
Carey wants to see the creation of a radiation therapy program in the region and a long-term strategy to deal with staffing.<\/p>\n
Horizon is currently creating \u201ca pipeline of talent\u201d to ensure the sustainability of the Saint John clinic, Doiron said, through its partnership with the Toronto-based Michener Institute, which offers a radiation therapy training program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis provides a great opportunity for students to conduct their clinical placement in New Brunswick,\u201d Doiron said. \u201cCandidates applying to the Michener program for the term beginning fall 2026 will be eligible for return of service funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently there are two students in the training program with return of service contracts in place with Horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links New BrunswickNewsSaint John & SouthThe IssuesHealth care More radiation therapists coming this spring as recruitment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-322470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Saint](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0309-lb-radiation-clinic-1.jpg\")
Radiation therapists at the Saint John Regional Hospital are calling for relief after more than two years of shouldering a full patient load without adequate staffing. BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVESArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Telegraph-Journal\"](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.7.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tj.svg\"){kind=logo}
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