As another clinic closes, doctors say after-hours care is set up to fail

Savannah Awde · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 14, 2025 4:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

An after-hours aesculapian session successful Moncton, attached to the Main Street Atlantic Superstore, present has a motion connected the doorway announcing its imperishable closure.

Doctors accidental that much after-hours clinics mightiness conscionable the aforesaid fate — and immoderate constituent to a billing strategy that pays physicians little for after-hours session care. 

But Nick Spence, who was the wide manager of the Main Street Primary Medical Clinic, believes it's hard to constituent to 1 crushed for its closure.

As the state aims to boost entree to superior attraction and allocates resources successful that direction, Spence said the after-hours session is an unfortunate casualty. 

"It is simply a shame, due to the fact that determination is simply a request for it," Spence said. "But, it's conscionable 1 of those things that, you can't support the resources successful walk-in clinics afloat time, and besides astatine the aforesaid clip get everyone attached to a superior health-care provider.

"There's not capable resources to bash both. So arsenic you transition, you've got to propulsion immoderate mode from present to spell implicit there, and this is conscionable benignant of what happens."

Spence, who is not a doctor, said his woman has been practising astatine the session for 10 years and putting successful 80-hour weeks trying to support it open.

He doesn't blasted the state and sees giving everyone entree to continuous superior attraction arsenic a priority. But helium besides tin spot the interaction that closing down volition person connected patients.

"It does suck, due to the fact that there's a batch of patients that utilized our clinic, and I don't cognize wherever they're going to go." 

Clinic closure not the first

A fewer years ago Dr. Brian Davidson besides closed his after-hours session successful the Moncton area, aft he, too, was incapable to find capable physicians to unit it. 

"After-hours clinics are conscionable a grounds of a bigger problem, that we can't enlistee to the community," Davidson said successful an interview. "People don't privation to bash that benignant of work. It doesn't wage arsenic well, there's much vexation with it, there's much paperwork."

He said doctors are paid importantly little for moving successful after-hours clinics, compared with different settings, including virtual care.

The complaint of wage for after-hours care, according to Davidson and Spence, hasn't accrued successful astatine slightest a decade.

WATCH | Former session proprietor explains wherefore after-hours options are needed: 

Because after-hours clinics besides person overhead costs, Davidson said, yet physicians astatine the session were taking location fractional of what they would marque if they worked elsewhere.

Dr. Lise Babin, the New Brunswick Medical Society president, was not amazed to perceive astir the closure of the Moncton clinic, and echoed Davidson's concerns astir billing. 

"Unfortunately, operating these types of services wrong the existent interest operation is nary longer viable for astir physicians owed to the magnitude of time, vigor and resources required," Babin said by email. "We afloat expect these closures to accelerate.

"The world is, online non-physician services specified arsenic eVisitNB are being paid much per sojourn than household physicians person for providing in-person walk-in visits. … We stay hopeful that this contented tin beryllium addressed successful bid to reverse the worrying inclination that fundamentally rewards text-based medicine much than precocious prime in-person care."

Health Minister John Dornan declined to remark connected after-hours billing, noting that negotiations are underway for a caller doc compensation agreement.

Spokesperson Meghan Cumby said the province's declaration with eVisit NB expires connected April 1, 2026, but did not corroborate whether the state plans to proceed providing that virtual option.

"The Department of Health is conducting a broad reappraisal of virtual attraction services," Cumby said by email.

"Any changes to however virtual attraction services are delivered aft April 1, 2026 volition beryllium announced pursuing the broad reappraisal of virtual attraction services."

Ripple effect

Sarah Lord works arsenic a wellness co-ordinator at the Jean Coutu Pharmacy successful Riverview, which besides houses the Coverdale Medical Clinic.

Lord helps patients navigate care options successful the area, and she worries that the latest closure volition permission patients successful the portion with fewer after-hours options. 

"If our session was closed, we could ever stake connected the Superstore connected Main Street session to connection services," she said. 

"Just due to the fact that they had the broadest hours that they were accommodating people, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. astir days of the week."

Lord is alert of astatine slightest 5 after-hours clinics successful the Moncton portion that person closed, leaving 4 remaining options in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe.

"We've already seen closures of aggregate clinics, and we person truthful galore radical who are connected a waiting database for a household doc and our colonisation is growing, truthful it truly leaves constricted resources for them," Lord said.

"We privation radical to person entree to the attraction that they need, but it's conscionable not disposable and it's getting worse each the time."