Nova Scotia recruitment incentive programs changed to include urban doctors

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government announced changes to its doctor recruitment incentive programs Tuesday as it faced criticism over the province’s failure to attend a recent recruitment event in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Premier Stephen McNeil said it was “completely unacceptable’’ that Nova Scotia was the only province that didn’t send recruiters to a national meeting of rural doctors in St. John’s this past weekend. McNeil said his government would be asking for an explanation from the Nova Scotia Health Authority, which is responsible for recruitment.

“I’ve asked the minister of health to reach out to the chair of the health authority for a clearer understanding of why they weren’t there,’’ he said.

The Opposition Tories raised the issue Tuesday during question period, citing a CBC report that said the authority decided the trip to Newfoundland would have been too expensive and hadn’t yielded results in the past.

“That’s not good enough,’’ said McNeil. “Obviously, we need more (doctors) ... That’s why it’s unacceptable that they (the authority) weren’t at the recruitment drive.’’

Interim Progressive Conservative leader Karla MacFarlane said her “jaw dropped’’ when she heard the authority had passed on the recruitment fair.

“We have a crisis happening in rural Nova Scotia and we know there are 100,000 people without a doctor,’’ she said. “Surely, we should have sent someone to see what type of recruitment was potentially there.’’

Meanwhile, the government said it would immediately remove geographic restrictions on three programs that offer financial incentives to doctors who chose to work in rural areas.