New Brunswick Extra Mural Program: What Families Need to Know

Your parent just got home from surgery, and the discharge nurse mentioned something about the "Extra-Mural Program." You nodded along, but now you're wondering what it actually covers, whether it costs anything, and how to get it started before your parent tries to change their own wound dressing.

The Extra-Mural Program (EMP) is New Brunswick's publicly funded home healthcare service, often called the province's "hospital without walls." It delivers clinical and rehabilitative care directly in your parent's home, and it is fully covered under New Brunswick Medicare.

What Services Does the Extra Mural Program Provide?

The EMP provides medical-level care through a multidisciplinary team. This is not personal care like bathing or housekeeping — those fall under a completely different department (Social Development). The EMP team includes registered nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, speech-language pathologists, dietitians, and social workers.

Services covered include wound care and IV therapy, post-surgical rehabilitation, chronic disease management (diabetes, COPD, heart failure), palliative and end-of-life care at home, medication management and assessment, and falls prevention and mobility assessments.

For families considering palliative care, the EMP provides specialized end-of-life nursing support so a parent can remain at home rather than in a hospital or hospice facility. The program offers 24/7 on-call nursing support for palliative patients, which means a nurse can be reached at any hour if symptoms escalate.

Who Is Eligible?

Any New Brunswick resident with a valid Medicare card whose care needs can be safely managed at home. There is no income test, no age requirement, and no co-pay. If the clinical team determines your parent's condition can be treated in the home setting, the service is free.

The key distinction: the EMP covers medically necessary care only. If your parent needs help with activities of daily living — bathing, dressing, meal preparation, light housekeeping — that falls under the Department of Social Development's Long Term Care Program, which is income-tested and operates as a completely separate system.

How to Request EMP Services

There are two pathways to access the program. A physician or nurse practitioner can make a direct referral from any hospital, clinic, or community setting. Alternatively, families can request services themselves through the Extra-Mural Program Care Coordination Centre run by Medavie Health Services NB using their online referral form.

Once the referral is processed, an EMP nurse conducts an initial home visit to assess your parent's clinical needs, home environment, and safety concerns. A care plan is developed, and scheduled visits begin — typically within days for post-discharge patients and within one to two weeks for chronic care needs.

What the Extra Mural Program Does Not Cover

Understanding this boundary prevents weeks of frustration. The EMP does not provide personal support workers for bathing or grooming, meal preparation or housekeeping, 24-hour live-in nursing, companion care or social supervision, or transportation to medical appointments.

If your parent needs both clinical care and personal support, they will interact with two entirely separate provincial systems: the EMP (Department of Health, free under Medicare) and the Long Term Care Program (Department of Social Development, income-tested). These departments do not automatically communicate with each other, so families need to initiate both applications independently.

Coordinating EMP with Other Home Care

Many families discover that EMP nursing visits alone are not enough. A parent recovering from a hip replacement may get physiotherapy through the EMP but still need daily help with bathing and cooking. In that scenario, the family must also apply to the Department of Social Development's home support program by calling 1-833-733-7835 or applying online through Social Supports NB.

The Department of Social Development will conduct its own functional and financial assessment. If your parent qualifies, they can receive subsidized home support services alongside their EMP clinical visits — but through different providers on different schedules.

For families navigating both systems simultaneously, the New Brunswick Care Decision Guide walks through the complete application process for each program, including what documents to prepare and what to expect during the financial assessment.

Key Takeaways

The Extra-Mural Program is one of the strongest publicly funded home healthcare systems in Canada. It covers everything from post-surgical recovery to end-of-life palliative care, and it costs families nothing. The critical thing to understand is what it does not cover — personal care and daily living support — so you can apply to the right provincial program for each type of help your parent needs.

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