Questions raised over financial health of new firm chosen for virtual healthcare in New Brunswick

An international firm that the New Brunswick government recently signed a contract with to replace the popular virtual healthcare platform eVisitNB suffered a credit rating downgrade late last year because of financial problems.S&P Global, one of the world’s biggest credit rating agencies, knocked down Foundever Group from B- down to a CCC rating on Dec. 18. That’s two notches down in S&P’s vaunted rating system and a warning to investors that the tech company headquartered in Luxembourg could be in trouble.In a research note published online, S&P advised that Foundever Group’s situation was so bad that it was likely to default on its debts within a year.The Holt Liberal government has signed a contract with Foundever, which also runs New Brunswick’s toll-free 811 service for people on the phone. It was one of 11 candidates to replace eVisitNB.Health Minister John Dornan recently said although eVisitNB’s contract ends April 1, it had agreed to continue providing service until July 1 as the provincial government tries to sign a new contract with Foundever. He promised a seamless transition.The Official Opposition’s health critic, Bill Hogan, expressed outrage during question period on Wednesday after reading the news in the River Valley Sun, a small publication in Woodstock, which broke the story the day before about the financial problems.The Progressive Conservative MLA challenged Premier Susan Holt to answer his question.“Foundever is only one rating drop away from bankruptcy, and this is the company to which Premier Holt is bound and determined to give a monopoly on all of New Brunswick’s eHealth business,” Hogan thundered. “Will the premier tell the people of New Brunswick when she learned that Foundever was downgraded by S&P Global Ratings?” In reply, Dornan said eVisitNB had been a good health solution over the last four years - introduced by the previous Tory administration during the pandemic - and that “a good, credible company” would provide a good healthcare solution in the future. The doctor repeated his promise of a smooth transition.“New Brunswickers need not be afraid. They will have virtual care. We are glad that this is one company that will be able to provide a solution to all New Brunswickers.”Hogan, however, questioned whether the premier and the minister had read the S&P report.The critic said the rating agency was “infinitely more qualified than the premier or anyone in her government to offer an opinion on anything related to business or finance.“It’s like the difference between Warren Buffett and the village idiot.”Dornan was unmoved. The doctor said he had faith in the bidding process the government had set up to attract applicants to run the service, often called an RFP, or request for proposals. “We are going with a company that has 28 years of uninterrupted practice in New Brunswick,” he said, mentioning its toll-free service. “It will provide consistency in care. I’m very proud of the choices we’ve made, and I look forward to providing this service to all New Brunswickers in a continuous, uninterrupted fashion for the years to come.”Dornan refused to take reporters’ questions afterward.A provincial government spokesman told Brunswick News late on Wednesday the Liberal administration was sticking by its decision. He also revealed that it had signed a contract with Foundever. As recently as Tuesday, Dornan said a contract had not been signed yet.“We are confident that Foundever Assistance Services Corporation is able to deliver on the services outlined in the recently signed contract,” wrote Bruce Macfarlane in an email. “They also provide Tele-Care 811 services, and we have full confidence in their performance in that role as well.”He did not answer a question put by Brunswick News earlier in the day asking the exact date it had selected Foundever as a replacement and whether that was before or after the S&P research note.Hogan said the Liberal government should have dumped the RFP process altogether and stuck with a local company that had provided good service to New Brunswickers. People who often don’t have a family doctor or can’t get an appointment soon enough use the service to arrange a private consultation with a physician or nurse practitioner by video, phone or text.“Why don’t they just renew the eVisit contract? I mean, it’s a perfect company that was developed by New Brunswickers and has New Brunswick investors,” the Carleton MLA told reporters at the legislature.“And it’s working extremely well. Why don’t they just extend the eVisit contract and end any possibility of this boondoggle?” Finance Minister René Legacy, who took reporters’ questions, acknowledged he didn’t know the ins and outs of the contract or the talks to replace the service. But he said he had faith in Service New Brunswick, the Crown corporation that reviews RFPs for the provincial government.The previous Higgs administration introduced eVisitNB during the pandemic, when people were trying to minimize contact with others and avoid spreading disease.The virtual care platform operates through the Maple app for non-urgent health issues. It provides free, on-demand online medical consultations with nurse practitioners and physicians for New Brunswickers with a valid Medicare card.In the last fiscal year, 2024-2025, eVisitNB reported handling more than 300,000 consultations for patients, a 38% increase over the previous year.David Coon, leader of the small opposition Green party, said he agreed eVisitNB should be replaced, but not by another private provider. He wants the public healthcare system to offer virtual services. Among the two regional health authorities, Vitalité Health Network has already said it could provide such a service.“It’s the wrong decision to go with that company,” Coon said of Foundever. “We shouldn’t be shipping millions of dollars out of New Brunswick. We should be providing the service inside New Brunswick, and, in fact, we should be providing it publicly, through our regional health authorities.Foundever, according to the S&P report, is the third-largest global provider of outsourced customer experience services. Since 2011, it has been privately owned by the wealthy Mulliez family. In 2024, it generated about $3.6 billion of revenue.Coon said it was important to “get rid of the increasing number of silos in this patchwork of services in healthcare, because of increasing privatization that’s occurred across both Conservative and Liberal governments. So, it’s time to pull our health-care system back together as a public system, and this would be a good start.”The Liberal government set up the RFP ostensibly to get the best value for taxpayers’ dollars, but Coon insisted a publicly run virtual care platform would be cheaper because no profits would be made.

Questions raised over financial health of new firm chosen for virtual healthcare in New Brunswick

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