Tele-Care 8-1-1

Tele-Care is a free bilingual and confidential provincial health line available to all New Brunswickers. By dialing 8-1-1 at any time of the day or night, you can access staff who will help you assess your situation and access services in your community.

• You cannot reach your doctor or nurse practitioner and need care
• You do not have a doctor or nurse practitioner and need care
• You are not sure if you should go to the emergency department
• You have a health-related question
• You are looking for health services in your community
• You need advice on managing a situation at home (medications, injuries)

Use the symptom checker tool to find out:

• How serious your symptoms are
• If a healthcare visit is needed
• What options you have to access care
• What steps you can take to relieve your symptoms at home

Every caller can speak to a registered nurse. In some circumstances, a Tele-Care 811 intake navigator may answer the call and provide information or arrange a callback from a registered nurse.

When you speak with the nurse about an illness or injury, you will be asked to describe your symptoms and answer questions to assess your issue.

Based on the assessment, the nurse will do one or more of the following:

• provide information, education, and advice about self-care 
• help you decide whether to:
  • make an appointment with your doctor or nurse practitioner
  • go to a clinic
  • contact services provided in the community (such as pharmacy and mental health)
  • go to a hospital emergency room
• offer to schedule a virtual appointment with a nurse practitioner

This process usually takes between 10 and 15 minutes. At the end of your call, the nurse will offer to send an e-mail with a link to health information related to your situation. 

While you do not need a Medicare card to access Tele-Care 811, you may need it to access some of the other health services. Please have your Medicare ready in case you are asked.

Patients will need to provide a certain amount of health information to assess health needs when speaking with Tele-Care. All information is considered confidential.

• Privacy notice (PDF)