Horizon planning urgent care centre for Moncton

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Horizon Health Network’s CEO says the health authority is planning a new urgent care centre for Moncton, but the organization isn’t giving any further details about its location or opening date.

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In December, Melanson told reporters the Moncton centre is being planned because Horizon was pleased with how similar facilities have been working at the Brookside Mall in Fredericton and at the St. Joseph’s Hospital in Saint John.

“That has created another opportunity for patients on a daily basis,” she said. “These are all strategies that will hopefully divert people that really do not need to come to an emergency department, allow space and staffing for those people that really do require emergency department services.”

Last week, Brunswick News asked Horizon where the Moncton centre would be housed, when it would open, and about staffing for the new centre, but did not get any additional information.

Instead, the newspaper received a statement in which Pam Power, Horizon’s clinical executive director of emergency medicine and critical care, reiterated that urgent care centres can play an important role in improving access to care by providing an alternative to the emergency department for non-life-threatening conditions.

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“We’ve seen the positive impact this model can have elsewhere in Horizon and we’re looking forward to bringing similar benefits to patients in the Moncton area,” said Power. “This project is in its very early stages, and we look forward to sharing more details at the appropriate time.”

According to the Horizon’s website patients are encouraged to visit the urgent care centre if their condition is non-life-threatening but cannot wait for a scheduled doctor’s appointment.

“Unlike a walk-in clinic or doctor’s office, where patients are treated first come first serve, the Urgent Care Centre triages and treats patients according to a ‘worst-first’ approach,” said the health authority on the web page for the centre at St. Joseph’s Hospital. 

Examples of conditions that can be treated at an urgent care centre are deep cuts, sprains, strains, simple fractures, mild to moderate asthma attacks, ear infections, urinary tract infections, diarrhea, and rashes.

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The newspaper also asked for data to illustrate how many patients the Fredericton and Saint John urgent care centres have diverted from ERs, as well as how the centres have impacted ER wait times for the nearby regional hospitals.

Patrick Parent, Vitalité Health Network’s assistant CEO, said in a statement Vitalité does not currently operate any urgent care centres and does not anticipate any announcements in the coming year regarding this mode of care.

“Our strategy to reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments relies first and foremost on strengthening access to care in the community, particularly through local family health teams,” Parent said in the statement.

Parent said the health teams are able to offer appointments for minor emergencies in less than 48 hours, which helps to respond more quickly to non-critical needs and avoid unnecessary emergency department visits.

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To date, 22 teams are able to offer rapid access for minor emergencies, he added. In the Moncton region, that service is currently offered by three teams in Moncton, seven teams in Dieppe, and one team in Memramcook.

Parent’s remarks are similar to those made by Health Minister John Dornan, who told reporters last summer the province was not on a path to create urgent care centres, but instead to attach patients to a collaborative care team.

He had called urgent care centres a “stop-gap” to where health care needs to go.

According to data provided by Horizon, 20,437 patients were registered at the St. Joseph’s Hospital Urgent Care Centre in the 2025-26 fiscal year to date, and 27,786 in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

At the Fredericton Urgent Treatment Centre, which opened in June 2024, there were 9,620 patients registered in the 2025-26 fiscal year to date, and 8,602 patients during the 2024-25 fiscal year.

-With files from Barbara Simpson, Andrew Waugh

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