AN EXTENSIVE ARRAY OF INNOVATIVE APPROACHES
President and CEO, Margaret Melanson, (second from left), chatting to colleagues
PATHWAYS TO PATIENT-CENTERED PROGRESS
Horizon Health Network stands out as a leader in Canadian healthcare. President and CEO, Margaret Melanson, shares the organization’s innovative approaches and dedication to quality across its wide network of hospitals and community-based facilities in New Brunswick
Writer: Rachel Carr | Project Manager: Callum Ovenstone
New Brunswick, often referred to as the ‘Picture Province’ due to its stunning coastline and aesthetically pleasing landscapes, stands out not only for its natural beauty but also for its unique status as Canada’s only officially bilingual province.
With a population of approximately 868,000, Horizon Health Network (Horizon), one of the province’s two regional health authorities, manages two-thirds of New Brunswick’s healthcare services.
With a collaborative team approach to offering services in English and French, Horizon delivers sustainable, safe, and quality healthcare services to residents of New Brunswick, as well as nearby provinces such as Prince Edward Island and the northern part of Nova Scotia.
“As the second-largest regional health authority in Atlantic Canada, Horizon employs over 15,000 staff and around 1,500 physicians, providing diverse services to about half a million people,” opens Margaret Melanson, President and CEO.
“We also offer tertiary care services, including cardiac surgery for the entire province.”
Horizon operates 12 hospitals, including the province’s two largest, along with 95 small health centers, public health offices, and mental health and addiction facilities spread across larger cities and small communities.
“We provide a full range of care, including primary and community health services, mental health and addiction support, and public health for mothers, newborns, and the general public regarding infectious diseases,” Melanson explains.
“Our hospitals offer both acute and specialized services, such as cancer care, emergency services, and chronic disease management, with larger facilities handling more specialized cases.”
A COMMITMENT TO QUALITY
Horizon ensures the highest quality, patient-centered care tailored to the diverse health needs of its residents, which Melanson is extremely dedicated to.
“In 2014, during my time as Vice President, I launched an initiative to promote patient-centered care throughout our organization. This approach is now integrated into everything we do.
“We established the Horizon Patient and Family Advisory Council that participates with many of our project teams, which helps us design our care around patients’ values, preferences, and individual circumstances.”
The organization has adopted various technologies to improve patient care, quality, and team education.
“Our complex quality and safety strategy establishes teams within clinical and non-clinical service areas that report to vice presidents, highlighting the significance of quality and safety.
“I chair Horizon’s Quality and Safety Committee, overseeing all initiatives and addressing incidents,” Melanson expands.
Medication safety is essential across all services, and Horizon prioritizes transparency and accountability in every interaction. Its commitment to SeamlessMD – a digital patient engagement platform that gives patients access to a variety of helpful resources from their mobile device, improving their treatment experience.
“Patients scheduled for cardiac surgery receive tailored information on their mobile devices in the days
WHAT FACTORS DO YOU THINK HAVE CONTRIBUTED
TO HORIZON’S INCREASED RECRUITMENT OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS?
Margaret Melanson, President and CEO: “Despite a competitive landscape, we have excelled in securing healthcare staff, particularly nurses and physicians.
“Our talent acquisition team actively participates in domestic and international events, attracting professionals globally.
“We remain focused on fostering a workplace culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. After successfully recruiting international nurses from the Philippines and Africa in 2022, we partnered with local organizations to support their integration into our workplace and communities.
“Currently, over 85 percent of our employees plan to stay with Horizon for at least the next year, with a voluntary turnover rate of 6.2 percent – well below the industry average of around 14 percent.
“We create welcoming environments by organizing annual mix-and-mingle events. We also celebrate and appreciate our team members throughout the year by hosting annual events that foster a sense of value and support.
“To support mental health, especially after ‘Blue January’, we like to uplift spirits by bringing in comedian James Mullinger for evening events, for example, which our staff react positively to.”
“OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUTUBE IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF BRINGING EVIDENCE-BASED HEALTH CONTENT DIRECTLY TO OUR PATIENTS, HELPING US TO BECOME A TRUSTED RESOURCE”
– MARGARET MELANSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, HORIZON HEALTH NETWORK
leading up to the procedure through the SeamlessMD platform. This includes guidance on stopping anticoagulants and what to expect on surgery day,” she outlines.
“They can also share this information with family and reach out with questions, reducing the need for unnecessary calls or emergency visits. This is an example of the patientcentered technology we are eager to leverage and implement widely. It is very reassuring for patients to know
exactly what will happen in advance and what to expect postoperatively.”
REVOLUTIONIZING THROUGH INNOVATION
By transitioning to a digital care model, Horizon is enhancing care and improving the overall patient experience.
“We are currently implementing six artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives this fiscal year, including accelerating stroke diagnosis through automated
medical imaging and reducing administrative burdens on our physicians by providing hundreds of licenses for an AI scribe program,” Melanson discloses.
During a physician visit, the patient discusses their symptoms while the doctor inquires about the duration of those symptoms, prior treatments, medications, and tests.
A computer system listens to this exchange, capturing key information such as demographics, symptoms, and potential diagnoses.
Much of this information is predocumented, allowing the doctor to quickly review and edit clinical notes, thereby enhancing efficiency and enabling more face-to-face time with the patient.
Additionally, AI technologies are being used for early cancer detection through passive screening of routine scans.
“We’ve introduced passive screening for lung cancer; anyone who’s getting a chest X-ray will automatically undergo a scan for precancerous cells or other concerns – allowing for early detection of potential issues,” Melanson optimistically tells us.
“With a strategic approach, we aim to ensure our investments have the desired impact. We are collaborating closely with technology partners such as Google and Microsoft, as well as other major organizations, to explore potential innovations and incorporate their recommendations.”
TRANSFORMING CANCER CARE
Horizon is placing a strong emphasis on research and its expected impact
“IT’S EXCITING TO CREATE NEW SPACES AND TEAMS THAT LEVERAGE OUR PHYSICIAN RESOURCES AND NURSE PRACTITIONERS. BY SURROUNDING PEOPLE WITH ALLIED HEALTH TEAMS, PHYSIOTHERAPISTS, DIETICIANS, AND SOCIAL WORKERS, WE CAN PROVIDE CARE CLOSE TO HOME”
– MARGARET MELANSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, HORIZON HEALTH NETWORK
on innovation, particularly in areas such as injectable chemotherapy.
“In November, we launched our new institute dedicated to research, innovation, and better health,” Melanson sets out.
“This initiative highlights our commitment to accelerating research that directly improves health outcomes and helps us provide advanced medical knowledge and treatment options for New Brunswick residents.”
The institute has already established major partnerships that will directly benefit patients, including a strategic partnership with the University of New Brunswick. Furthermore, a partnership
with biopharmaceutical company AbbVie is showing great promise by collaborating on treating inflammatory bowel disease, ovarian cancer and post-stroke spasticity.
“The institute is focused on improving patient care. For instance, healthcare company Roche Canada has introduced a new injectable medication for a specific type of lung cancer, replacing the previous chemotherapy infusions that required lengthy visits to treatment centers,” she specifies.
“To expedite access to this, we partnered with the New Brunswick Extra-Mural Program through which nurses visit patients’ homes to administer medication, ensuring
they receive advanced care while minimizing travel.”
This approach alleviates the challenges of attending chemotherapy treatments, such as arranging childcare and managing work commitments.
“We are utilizing the institute for more than academic purposes. While affiliated with our universities and involved in numerous applied research studies, our main goal is to turn innovation into practical improvements in patient care.
“We are examining the evidence to determine how we can leverage our findings and advance our initiatives and other ongoing projects,” Melanson says.
Behind every hospital is a team keeping critical systems running.
In healthcare facilities, systems must perform without interruption. Carmichael Engineering (Carmichael) has supported hospitals and healthcare facilities across New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada since 1995, building on more than a century of experience in Canada in critical building systems.
From patient comfort to medication storage, building system performance may play a quiet role in care delivery, but the outcomes are essential. Carmichael’s reliability is built on disciplined preventative maintenance, informed emergency response, and service teams who understand the seriousness of their responsibilities. That reliability comes from craftsmanship, accountability, and a commitment to doing the work properly. The company’s technicians work closely with facilities to ensure systems remain stable, predictable, and ready to support patient care 24/7, because when a system fails in a hospital, waiting until morning is not an option.
QUIETLY SUPPORTING PATIENT CARE
In hospital environments, Carmichael provides specialized service and maintenance, including preventative maintenance, seasonal start-ups, repairs, and emergency response for both comfort cooling and mission-critical chiller systems.
In specialized clinical environments, Technicians service MRI unit cooling systems and laboratory HVAC systems requiring 100 percent fresh air, where temperature stability, air quality, and uptime are critical to patient safety and clinical accuracy.
Beyond HVAC, Carmichael maintains and sanitizes hospital ice machines to support
“With more than a century of experience, Carmichael understands how equipment behaves over decades, not just years”
Your Hospital Equipment. Our Expertise
Carmichael Engineering has built a reputation for doing work the right way, supporting those who rely on critical building systems, and earning trust over time.
In healthcare, that experience, familiarity, and consistency make all the difference.
“Our approach is straightforward and proven. Know the equipment, maintain it properly, respond when needed, and build long-term relationships based on trust”
hygiene, patient hydration, and infection prevention. The team also performs calibration and service on ultra-low temperature freezers, incubators, and other scientific and medical refrigeration equipment, including vaccine refrigerators.
PERFORMANCE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION
Expert technicians such as Rocky, Josh, and Scott are part of Carmichael’s New Brunswick team performing critical work every day, bringing hospital-specific training, regulatory awareness, and deep technical expertise to each site.
Their understanding of healthcare environments, combined with a disciplined approach to maintenance and response, allows facilities to operate with confidence.
Much of this work takes place outside regular hours, in mechanical rooms and service corridors, ensuring systems are stable and ready long before patients and staff ever notice a concern.
Even the best-maintained systems can encounter unexpected issues, hence why informed, reliable emergency response remains essential. Carmichael’s team of highly trained technicians, engineers, and support staff arrive with system knowledge, site familiarity, and a clear understanding of how each system is
meant to perform, allowing for issues to be addressed efficiently, safely, and with minimal disruption.
PARTNERSHIPS BUILT ON TRUST
Carmichael is proud to support healthcare facilities across New Brunswick, including work performed for both Horizon Health Network and Vitalité Health Network.
These partnerships reflect long-standing relationships built on trust, accountability, and a shared understanding of what healthcare environments require. Carmichael’s role is to support facilities teams by helping ensure building systems perform reliably, efficiently, and predictably, day after day.
ROOTED IN RESPONSIBILITY
Carmichael’s presence in New Brunswick is supported by branches in Moncton and Fredericton, alongside depots throughout the province, including Saint John, Bathurst, and surrounding communities. This structure ensures responsive service and strong site familiarity for healthcare facilities across the region.
Founded in 1922, Carmichael now operates from 25 locations across Canada and employs more than 850 skilled professionals specializing in HVAC, refrigeration, mechanical, and building systems service.
The company performs services for numerous healthcare facilities and health authorities nationwide; from Fraser Health in British Columbia through to Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, reflecting extensive experience in regulated, mission-critical environments.
For healthcare organizations, this means local accountability backed by national depth. Reach out to our teams today.
EMPOWERING EDUCATION
To enhance healthcare education, Horizon is using social media channels as a means of engaging the public.
“Our partnership with YouTube is a great example of bringing evidencebased health content directly to our patients, helping us to become a trusted resource. It provides a credible and reliable source for healthcarerelated education in a world where there’s both a lot of good and bad out there on the internet,” Melanson establishes.
“We started with general health topics, then expanded to mental health, teen mental health, and first aid content, creating over 246 videos and totaling around 11 million views – our channel has nearly 11,000 subscribers!”
This is the modern approach for Horizon to reach people outside traditional healthcare settings, ensuring education and support occur before people get sick.
ELEVATING PHYSICIAN LEADERSHIP
Last year, Horizon adopted a program management model in which physician and administrative leaders co-led to drive strategy and operations.
“A cooperative approach has harmonized the program – in terms of care for women and children, for example, if strategies are shared, people can participate in creating a better experience across all our major centers,” imparts Melanson.
“It has also increased involvement where previously, many physicians were on the periphery of strategy and leadership. Now, we’ve allocated funding for dedicated leadership time, allowing them to actively participate.”
This change has strengthened the team’s credibility, reputation, and leadership, enabling team members to come together to create their own policies.
This shift grants authority, responsibility, and accountability to all staff for the programs and service delivery, as well as their impacts and outcomes, promoting consistency and standardization.
“As a large, geographically diversified organization, reducing silos helps us work collaboratively,” assures Melanson.
“This initiative promotes well-being by offering education and tools for better health. The way we deliver information is rapidly evolving; newspapers are no longer the main source, while platforms like YouTube are gaining trust.
“We’re excited about how this partnership went and are open to exploring similar opportunities as we move forward, given the success and positive response from patients and their families.”
BETTER PATIENT OUTCOMES
One of Horizon’s major projects is expanding collaborative care clinics –also known as family health teams – in its communities.
“In addition to our existing primary care locations, we have introduced seven new clinics and are planning to add more within the next 12 to 15 months. Having timely access to primary care is exceptionally important for our citizens, making this an extremely significant and high-priority project,” impassions Melanson.
“It’s exciting to create new spaces and teams that leverage our physician resources and nurse practitioners. By surrounding people with allied health teams, physiotherapists, dieticians, and social workers, we can provide care close to home.”
A significant transformation project underway for Horizon is to ensure that when individuals move to a community, their children can attend a local school, and the community health clinic is available to the entire family.
“We’re also working at relocating services currently in a hospital that would work better at another location. Traditionally, blood collection services and ambulatory clinics have been located in hospitals due to space constraints,” Melanson notes.
“Focusing on provider needs can be convenient for clinicians; however, patients benefit more from
Women’s Gut Health: The Missing Link in Hormones, Energy, Skin, and Metabolism
For decades, women’s health conversations have centered on cycles: puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause. But behind these hormonal shifts lies another system quietly influencing everything from mood to metabolism - the gut.
Researchers have uncovered important differences between men’s and women’s microbiomes, revealing unique ways the gut influences hormonal balance, inflammation, and reproductive wellness. Yet this connection remains overlooked in traditional care.
Medavie Blue Cross is leading the way in closing that gap.
As the first benefit provider in Canada to make professional-grade microbiome testing accessible to members, Medavie Blue Cross is helping members take a proactive step toward better digestive, immune, and mental health. The launch underscores Medavie Blue Cross’s ongoing commitment to transforming preventive care through innovation and accessibility.
That transformation includes embarking on a greater understanding of the unique factors that impact womens’ health, and Gutcheck VIVO is one tool that supports this quest.
Hormones and gut bacteria communicate constantly. One key player is the estrobolomegut microbes that regulate estrogen levels. When functioning well, it supports healthy estrogen metabolism. When imbalanced, estrogen may be reabsorbed rather than eliminated, contributing to:
• Heavy or irregular periods
• PMS and mood swings
• Hot flashes
• Weight fluctuations
• Sleep issues
• Bloating
As women transition through life stages, estrogen naturally shifts. A healthy gut buffers these changes; an unhealthy gut amplifies them.
Energy and inflammation
Many women experience chronic fatigue unexplained by iron or thyroid levels alone. The gut may be the missing piece. A healthy microbiome breaks down nutrients efficiently, producing metabolites that support cellular energy. When diversity is low, nutrient absorption suffers - along with stamina, clarity, and mood.
Inflammation, often gut-driven, also saps energy by diverting resources toward immune response rather than daily functioning, leaving women depleted.
Skin health
Skin conditions like acne, rosacea, eczema, and dryness often reflect internal inflammation. The gut is the body’s largest immune organ. When healthy, it prevents unwanted particles from entering the bloodstream. When compromised, inflammation spreads - often appearing on the skin before other symptoms. For women navigating hormonal shifts, skin changes can be frustrating and unexpected.
Supporting the microbiome helps stabilize inflammatory responses and improve skin clarity and texture.
Weight management
Many women find weight harder to manage in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. While hormones play a major role, gut bacteria influence metabolism through blood sugar regulation and fat storage.
A diverse microbiome helps:
• Stabilize appetite signals
• Improve insulin sensitivity
• Reduce cravings
• Support healthy weight maintenance
When imbalanced, it contributes to bloating, water retention, and metabolic slowdowns that diet or exercise alone may not solve.
Emerging research also shows connections between gut health and reproductive function.
Gut bacteria influence inflammation levels, nutrient absorption, and hormonal regulationall key factors for women planning pregnancies, recovering postpartum, or navigating perimenopause.
Women deserve care that reflects the complexity of their biology. Gut health is a powerful - and long-neglected - component of that care. By integrating microbiome testing into preventive health, programs like Medavie Blue Cross’s GutCheck and GutCheck Vivo help women better understand their bodies and give them greater confidence in taking care of their health.
community-based care. Hospitals often represent illness, but we aim to promote wellness. We’re looking at leasing space for various services off-site to improve accessibility and parking.”
Horizon is transforming surgical care by significantly reducing wait times. Since 2023, the organization has reduced them by approximately 35 percent which means that today, almost 92 percent of patients receive surgery within one year or sooner.
“Urgent surgeries are now more efficient, often performed on an ambulatory basis or requiring only an overnight stay. Many hip and knee replacement patients go home the next day, showcasing advancements in patient care technology,” Melanson states.
PRESCRIBING A NEW COURSE
Horizon recently launched its new five-year strategic plan in the spring of
2025, centered on four main pillars.
Firstly, advancing community care by ensuring that mental health services are more readily available in communities. This includes building on existing recruitment efforts, maintaining momentum, and continuing to capitalize on staff retention initiatives.
Additionally, Horizon has introduced a new culture commitment through the Our Promise initiative, which aims to foster a safe workplace that recognizes the value of its people and offers educational opportunities.
“We have several initiatives aimed at achieving excellence in hospital care, involving ongoing transformation, introducing new technologies, and a robust research and innovation portfolio.
“We are very focused on our initiatives across all four priority areas, and we’re moving quickly into the future.”
New Brunswick has a significant senior population and is facing patient flow challenges.
“The dedication of our staff and the work of our leaders is evident in the high retention rates we continue to achieve.
“While we have numerous patient flow challenges, people are happy and keen to collaborate. That’s a testament to what we have achieved as leaders within our organization,” Melanson concludes earnestly.
Tel: 1-888-820-5444
Horizon@Horizonnb.ca www.HorizonNB.ca
his wife, Jennie