Head of Doctors Nova Scotia says solution needed now
Taking a break from his rounds at a clinic in Kennetcook, Dr. Manoj Vohra shows some of the flexibility that he would like to see more of in Nova Scotia’s medical system.
“I go to some under-serviced areas that require physicians so since the time that I left the health authority, I started an online clinic in the valley. I helped out with the hospice in New Glasgow, in Westville, … I’m going to Pugwash to help support a physician departure there until we fill that spot.
“At the end of the day I get to cure patients and that makes me very happy.”
The Annapolis Valley-based Vohra, a family physician, is the new president of Doctors Nova Scotia. It’s a position that places him in the front lines of getting more physicians to this area.
“Cape Breton is one of my top priorities,” said Vohra, adding he once considered moving here himself. “The patients in Cape Breton and all of Nova Scotia have spoken out to say health care needs change and reform. We as leaders, both from the government and Doctors Nova Scotia and the health authority, need to be able to work together to solve these problems and appreciate each other’s points of view and bring a solution that has substance to it. That’s what excites me here.”
Vohra said his organization has been keeping a close eye on the situation in Cape
Breton and has plans to work towards a solution.
“I think that
Doctors Nova Vohra
Scotia is well aware of the challenges that Cape Breton is facing and of course I think the biggest one is physician recruitment and retention,” said Vohra. “I think that is of paramount importance.
“I would say that it is a crisis. A crisis requires a focused concentration and a game plan on how to deal with it. We would urge the government that it needs to be focused on now.”
In addition to doctor shortages, Cape Breton physicians have raised concerns over the lack of opportunity for frontline health-care workers to have input into the system with the move to a centralized administration and a single provincewide health authority, from the previous system that had nine branches. Because of that centralized single system, recruitment is done outside of Cape Breton for the whole province, which Vohra says may not be in Cape Breton’s best interests. Vohra says recruitment and retention needs to be done locally to better demonstrate a welcoming environment and the flexibility to use different models of practice.
“We have to be really good on the flexibility scales, the mentorship scales, the ability to have students, both before they graduate and after they graduate, to spend time in the communities so that they can actually be part of the community and understand what works for them. I think we have to be really good on those points, given that from a renumeration point of view, Nova Scotia is not as competitive as the rest of the provinces.”
Another problem comes when doctors are found but the system delays hiring because of an approval process that may question perfectly good credentials.
“So let’s get rid of the obstacles,” says Vohra. “Let’s start allowing a recruitment and retention strategy that I would describe right now as not being really being clear what it is. Put it back into the hands of local areas that can work with the provincial government in making sure that we succeed in making this a welcoming province because it is a great province and people should be able to come here and work.
“We must find solutions immediately to help with the short-term crisis along with a long-term plan. It’s clear that recruitment and retention has to be done with local ability.”