FREDERICTON, N.B.- New Brunswickers appear to have a fairly straightforward wish list for their new health plan, according to the New Brunswick Health Council.

The council hosted public consultations in various communities throughout the province earlier this year in an effort to help shape the new plan.

Speaking on the Todd Veinotte Show – CEO Stephane Robichaud says education and prevention were two common themes. “We are developing chronic conditions that are preventable but we’re not preventing them because we’re not as healthy and then we’re driving demand on the system and that demand is costing more money which means less money for prevention”, says Robichaud. “We have to break that cycle”.

Getting better value for health care dollars, and the higher cost of healthy food were also common concerns.

Robichaud says some of the suggestions included reviving Participaction, and the creation of community gardens.