What a shortage of doctors in Nova Scotia leads to
Emergency rooms in Nova Scotia are closing due to a shortage of doctors. Residents are concerned that they will have no one to help them in an emergency.
Most weeks, the emergency service at All Saints Springhill Hospital in Springhill, is closed during daytime hours. You can get to the nearest hospital in Amherst by spending an additional 15-20 minutes. Sometimes, if you can't get to Amherst, you have to go even farther — to Sackville. Someone may lose their life in the meantime. Locals say that by calling 911 they hope for the best, but it only gets worse by the day.
Daily announcements about the suspension of emergency rooms have become commonplace on local radio stations in Nova Scotia. Such gaps in first aid undermine the principle of universal access to medicine.
Dr. Tim Holland, former president of Physicians for Nova Scotia, says the problem extends far beyond the Atlantic region. Holland stresses that emergency departments have become primary care centers for people who don't have a family doctor. "Everyone who isn't cared for elsewhere ends up in the emergency room."
He says the worst is over because more doctors are being recruited in Nova Scotia and the government is spending more money on emergency care. The provincial immigration program in Nova Scotia recently added a new stream specifically for doctors. General practitioners and family physicians (NOC 3112) and specialist physicians (NOC 3111) can now immigrate to Nova Scotia through Express Entry.
Statistics show that more than 50,000 Nova Scotians do not have a family doctor. Last year, the provincial government invested nearly $40 million CAD to raise doctors' salaries and introduce the technology needed to improve access to primary care.
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