The council in St. Stephen will be bringing forward an incentive package for certain health-care professionals who provide a five-year service commitment to the community.

A proposed policy was drafted and brought to the council during its committee of the whole meeting this month.

Health care is not a municipal responsibility, though, falling strictly to the two other levels of government.

Chief Administrative Officer Jeff Renaud said in his memo that “the responsibility for the health care crisis we are now dealing with lies solely with the New Brunswick government and every resident, business and organization needs to hold the province accountable for resolving this issue.”

It said despite the recommendations in the report, management does not believe the municipality should be in the recruitment business.

“I tried to be very blunt in my position that we shouldn’t have to do this,” he said. “We need to do it in order to compete in the market, but we need to continue to put pressure on the provincial government to fix the health-care system so that municipalities can stop spending taxpayer money that should be going to roads, sidewalks and programming.”

The policy proposes adding a line item to the budget for $100,000 to cover the following incentives:

• New family physicians: $125,000 for a five-year commitment
• Established family physicians (out-of-province): $75,000 for a five-year commitment
• Specialist/ER physician: $75,000 for a five-year commitment at the Charlotte County Hospital
• International medical graduates: up to $125,000 for a five-year commitment
• Nurse practitioners: $10,000, with two $5,000 payments
• Recruitment consultants: $25,000 limit on the fee for a recruitment consultant out of the incentive paid by the town.

Each amount would be spread out in annual instalments of up to $25,000, allowing for the $100,000 to travel further and not exceed the budget should more than one medical professional come at once, according to Renaud.

Deputy Mayor Ghislaine Wheaton said this policy was something good it could do for the community.

“I think we really need to approve this,” she said.

Mayor Allan MacEachern said while this is a good service it is doing for the district, it going beyond its boundaries.

“It is a provincial responsibility,” he said. “Again, I’m looking forward to this.”

There was also concern about this incentive package bleeding into more support from the municipality in a brick-and-mortar fashion – like setting up clinics and funding those clinics.

Coun. Earle Eastman questioned whether providing a structure would be part of this package.

“Is the town going to be held accountable for providing a structure for a clinic or any of this stuff,” he asked.

He said adding another expenditure on the budget like funding a clinic is concerning to him.

“If we’re going to get tagged on top of that building a clinic or paying for a clinic or incentivizing a clinic, we got to look (at) the money we’re going to pay out, it adds up,” he said during the meeting.

Some municipalities do subsidize medical clinics in their community, including in Charlotte County. In Saint Andrews, the wellness centre is provided with free space in the W.C. O’Neill arena to help provide healthcare to those in Charlotte County and elsewhere.

St. Stephen is also first on the list for a collaborative care clinic, according to the Holt government, which intends to set them up in the first 18 months in office. Blacks Harbour is slated to get one in 2026.

However, the council seems supportive of the idea.

Coun. Emily Rodas worked extensively on this policy, using her experience in the health system. She spoke to some people in health care about the policy.

“I think this is something that is unique,” she said. “But the purpose of it would be to lock them in through the financial gain.”

She said not only can the municipality bring them here, but keep them here by showing them other incentives like community engagement and showcasing what the region has to offer.

“Incentives from the business, like a six-month gym membership,” she said. “Or if you want to get your kids in sports, you call this individual.”

Rodas explained it is about making them feel a part of the community, ideally allowing them to put down roots for the future.

At the Charlotte County Hospital, she said, there is a one-day clinic, and the physician is reporting seeing 40 to 50 patients per day, sometimes more.

All of this comes against the backdrop of the New Brunswick Medical Association calling out Horizon Health for ending physician incentives at the Charlotte County Hospital and the Sussex Hospital.

According to NBMS, the incentives stopped on Feb. 15.

“Without immediate action to maintain these incentives, further closures are inevitable,” she said in the statement, adding the Sussex ER has faced closures in 2025 as a result of a lack of physicians.

Neither Horizon Health Network nor the Department of Health confirmed whether the incentives were removed back in February when asked by The Courier, instead, the two pointed the finger at the other.

Council is expected to bring the policy forward for discussion and a vote in the near future.