Telehealth
Complaints about virtual care in New Brunswick
July 22, 2026
FREDERICTON – The New Brunswick government is promising to make prescription renewals easier through Virtual Care NB. Patients complained they faced delays obtaining routine medications following the launch of the new system last month.
Health minister John Dornan (pictured) announced at a news conference that the province will introduce an online prescription renewal option and a dedicated Tele-Care 811 menu for renewals, acknowledging the province underestimated demand for the service.
“We have heard clearly from New Brunswickers that prescription renewals are an area where improvements are needed and we are working hard toward implementing such solutions,” Dornan said.
“We know that Tele-Care 811 has not been working as well as it should be for some people seeking prescription renewals. We are changing that path.”
Last week, CBC News spoke to patients who said prescription renewals were taking much longer to complete following the launch of Virtual Care NB on June 30.
Dornan said the department simply didn’t anticipate how many people were using the service for renewals, but admitted it could have been foreseen given how many New Brunswickers are without a primary care provider.
He said virtual care is a good avenue for prescription renewal in some cases, but urged people who have a primary healthcare provider to go there or to pharmacists instead of relying on virtual care.
Dornan also said the pharmacy association should have been more involved in the process.
“Had we known there were going to be so many prescription renewals, we would have involved them more … and we endeavour to do that moving forward,” he said.
He said an online prescription renewal option will be added, as well as a new renewal menu option for Tele-Care 811.
“This improvement will help improve the patient experience while protecting the 811 registered nurses queue for priority calls,” Dornan said.
He added that the department would collaborate with the New Brunswick College of Pharmacists and the New Brunswick Pharmacists’ Association to “identify and break down barriers” that prevent pharmacists from renewing prescriptions.
Asked what percentage of call volume has been for prescription renewals, Dornan said the department would provide exact figures, “but we know it was more than we anticipated.”
He added that the department didn’t have data from the previous provider about this and reiterated that people with primary care providers should be using them instead.
“Many people were using the old virtual care provider instead of their doctor or nurse practitioner. They should have been going there in the first place,” Dornan said.
He also urged people to plan ahead.
“Don’t wait until 12 o’clock on Sunday night to realize that your prescription’s not available tomorrow morning,” he said.
Technology alone cannot compensate for the absence of professional diversity, integrated expertise, and effective teamwork. The strategic sequence that appears to be missing in New Brunswick and across Canada is not simply investment in innovation or talent acquisition, but ensuring the right foundations: interdisciplinary leadership, shared accountability, and integration across professional domains.
The question is not whether technology is valuable—it is an important enabler—but whether governance structures are prepared to translate technology into meaningful outcomes. Are we questioning the underlying system design and accountability mechanisms, or only focusing on technological solutions?
Sustainable improvement requires moving beyond siloed disciplines toward teams that bring together diverse clinical, operational, data, and community expertise. Without this integration, even the most advanced technologies risk becoming tools added to fragmented systems rather than catalysts for transformation.