On Tuesday, the N.B. health minister announced that the province’s 8 regional health authorities are being combined into just 2. One authority would represent the francophone north part of the province, and the other would represent the anglophone south (including Fredericton and Saint John). They hope the move will reduce duplication of services and eliminate competition between regions each fighting for services they don’t all need individually. Some other areas, such as Alberta apparently, have a similar model.

Up to this point, this sounds like a bold step, and one that could be beneficial for our province. But of course we have to screw it up New Brunswick style.

Where will these new health authorities be headquartered? Well, one in the North and one in the South, right? Obviously, Saint John would be the best choice for the south since it has the largest hospital which has been recently granted trauma centre status. Sounds like a safe bet? Wrong. The two headquarters are Miramichi for the South and Bathurst for the North. Both of these cities have been hurt by job losses lately, but is it really necessary to move the health authority management away from the population masses just to at least seem like you’re helping these communities? Both of these “cities” (towns by most standards outside of New Brunswick) are really in the North part of the province, and the government is seemingly doing it what it can to maximize votes in this area.

Don’t worry Moncton, you’re not being left out either. You’re getting special treatment. Although you won’t be one of the headquarter locations, you will benefit by being served by both health authorities and will therefore have access to the resources of both networks. It’s hard to imagine any New Brunswick policy that isn’t somehow twisted to benefit Moncton. The reasoning this time is that Moncton is bilingual and language alone is enough to influence the kind of health care that a region should receive.

Let’s hope that the well educated medical professionals come together on this one and talk sense into the government. If you’re going to combine services, at least centralize them in locations that actually make sense.