New Brunswick inks virtual care deal with $12.9M annual budget

New Brunswick legislature in Fredericton. (CTV News/Laura Brown)

New Brunswick has inked a two-year deal for virtual care provided by Foundever Assistance Services Corp., a company criticized by the official opposition for its recent credit downgrade.

Earlier this year, the New Brunswick government announced Foundever would take over virtual care from eVisitNB, which handled referrals and prescriptions. The eVisitNB contract was set to expire on March 31, but last week the government extended the deal by 90 days.

Luxembourg-based Foundever is set to take over virtual care in June. Their annual budget will be $12.9 million, but it will be based on 250,000 services per year and will only be paid as services are delivered.

“This new contract will benefit New Brunswickers through an improved virtual care experience for patients that includes the ability to book phone appointments, provide case management and follow-up care for high needs patients, and schedule appointments instead of having a virtual waiting room,” said Health Minister John Dornan in a news release. “The selected provider has strong roots in the province and a proven track record of providing New Brunswickers with Tele-Care 811 service.”

New Brunswick said Foundever met their criteria for the contract by offering:

• a bilingual service available seven days a week
• secure storage of all patient information in Canada
• nurse practitioners licensed in New Brunswick
• ability to integrate existing systems like electronic health records and community health systems

Last December, Foundever’s credit rating was downgraded from B- to CCC by S&P Global, which drew criticism from the official opposition.

“What’s going to happen if we actually transition to them and they go bankrupt? Where is the seamless transition going to be then?” Progressive Conservative health critic Bill Hogan previously said.

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Nick Moore

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