Credit rating downgrade raises questions about change in N.B. virtual health care

Questions are being raised about the company that’s taking over New Brunswick’s virtual care.

New Brunswick’s official opposition says a recent credit rating downgrade for the company expected to take over virtual health care is cause for concern and should stop the plan from going forward.

Luxembourg-based Foundever Group Inc. has been tasked to take over virtual primary health care in the province from eVisitNB in a move which was first announced Feb. 9.

In December, Foundever received a credit rating downgrade from the U.S. credit rating agency S&P Global, which lowered the company two notches from ‘B-‘ to ‘CCC.’

“The negative outlook reflects our view that liquidity will deteriorate over the coming quarters and a debt exchange or restructuring that we view as tantamount to a default is likely within the next 12 months,” said the S&P Global report about Foundever from Dec. 18.

Foundever didn’t respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Progressive Conservative health critic Bill Hogan said he first learned of the company’s credit downgrade in a report published Tuesday by the River Valley Sun and asked Premier Susan Holt during Wednesday’s question period when the province knew.

Health Minister Dr. John Dornan stood to answer instead, but didn’t acknowledge those specific questions. Dornan was not made available to answer questions from reporters on Wednesday.

Last week, Holt confirmed eHealthNB’s contract had been extended by 90 days beyond March 31, when the switch in providers was initially scheduled to happen.

On Tuesday, Dornan told reporters a final contract still hadn’t been signed but was “very close” and involved “ironing out the smaller points,” without elaborating.

Dornan objected to the term “delay” being used to describe the eHealthNB’s contract being extended, saying there would be no disruption to virtual patient care.

“We have a smooth transition plan and New Brunswickers need not be afraid, they will have virtual care,” said Dornan during Wednesday’s question period.

Hogan said the company’s credit rating downgrade should stop the government from proceeding with its plan to move on from eVisitNB.

“What’s going to happen if we actually transition to them and they go bankrupt? Where is the seamless transition going to be then?” said Hogan to reporters, after Wednesday’s question period.

Hogan said the province should try and address any current issues with eHealthNB instead of ending contract, citing documented warnings that the virtual service had violated the province’s official languages act.

“The complaint that came out from the language commissioner… somebody had to wait too long. Like really? That’s a serious complaint? eVisit works really well. Why not just keep it?”

Foundever currently provides the province’s 811 Tele-care service for non-emergency health consultations by phone. eVisitNB was launched in January 2020 as a means to keep people out of emergency departments who were looking for non-emergency health referrals or prescriptions.

In announcing the switch from eVisitNB to Foundever, the province said all patient records would be securely stored in Canada, and that the incoming company brought “more than 28 years of experience serving New Brunswickers in both official languages, with 150 employees here in the province.”

The province said it conducted a competitive request-for-proposals process, asking prospective vendors “to demonstrate how they would deliver high-quality, integrated and patient-focused care.”

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