Nova Scotians searching for family doctor may wait up to 5 years

Nova Scotians who want a family doctor will likely have to wait years before they have access to one, according to the woman who runs the Nova Scotia Health Authority.

Janet Knox told reporters Wednesday the plan is to establish collaborative practices across the province and those clinical teams will give each person access to a doctor.

"Our goal is, in the next five years, that we need to have these collaborative practices in place in this province," she said.

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Premier Stephen McNeil later announced the province's plan to hire 22 more nurses 13 of them nurse practitioners to bolster existing collaborative care teams.

The province estimates that will give 14,000 Nova Scotians access to primary care, but there are an estimated 100,000 Nova Scotians without a family doctor. In the 2013 election campaign, the Liberals promised to tackle the issue during their first mandate.

Liberal election promise

The promise was to "ensure a doctor for every Nova Scotian."

McNeil said that is still the goal.

"We're going to continue to strive to meet that commitment, of course we are," he told reporters.

"And if I don't, I'm sure you'll hold me to account. I mean, it would be silly for me to say, no, that we're not going to aspire for that. Of course we're aspiring to have every Nova Scotian and we're working towards that goal."

Reminded that the promise was to act rather than aspire to meet the pledge, the premier said, "That's exactly what we're doing."

Hospitals will not close

Reforming the health system will take years, but communities won't lose hospitals as a result, the deputy minister of Health said.

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Dr. Peter Vaughan told a legislature committee Wednesday that the plan did not include closing any hospitals.

"[Health] Minister [Leo] Glavine has said some smaller facilities may be re-purposed. But there's no one talking about closing," he said. "Let's be very clear about that and repurposing is really about better meeting the needs of the future."

"What was needed 50 years ago, frankly, isn't what's going to be needed today, let alone tomorrow. We have gotten into the situation we are today because we have not addressed the issues over the past 20 years."

He said it was up to the health authority to decide what to do with existing buildings.

Plan to be rolled out soon

Knox told that same committee the reform plan would be shared with Nova Scotians before it went into force. She said that plan was still a work in progress.

Until there's a concrete plan, it's too early to talk about facilities, she said.

"We need to, with the people of this province, say, 'What is our vision for the services that we will provide to help us be healthy and stay healthy and how might we provide that?'"