COMMUNITY-LED, GRASSROOTS RESPONSES TACKLING THE ISSUE FROM ALL ANGLES
PARAMEDICS TO THE RESCUE
SYDNEY — Nova Scotia has quietly begun operating a community-based paramedic program out of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.
It's designed to ease the pressure on emergency departments, by sending paramedics out on community calls.
Three of the top five reasons people in the region rely on emergency health relate to primary care, such as wellness checks — something that would traditionally be handled by a family doctor.
The program began operating Dec. 17. After its first weeks are reviewed, the initiative is expected to expand to Glace Bay.
As of Jan. 24, 14 patients were referred to the program. That resulted in 33 in-person visits from paramedics and two virtual visits by registered nurses, to support patients after release from hospital.
The program is focused on supporting patients being discharged from hospital, frequent users of emergency health and those with chronic disease.
The project is expected to cost $900,000 annually and is part of the redevelopment of the region's health-care system.
— Nancy King
INTEREST IN A NEW MED SCHOOL PIQUES
SYDNEY — A proposal by a psychiatrist that Cape Breton University (CBU) open its own school of medicine to help address the doctor shortage struck a chord with people weary of ongoing doctor shortages and emergency department closures.
The idea, put forward by Dr. Kerry Ann Murray in a Cape Breton Post article, attracted thousands of readers and many comments.
CBU has previously undertaken creative ways of launching nursing and teaching training programs. It partnered with St. Francis Xavier University for the former before earning its own nursing program and delivered Memorial's teacher education curriculum before gaining approval for its own degree offering.
So, the idea of starting a medical program similar to one launched in 2005 in Northern Ontario caught readers' imaginations.
“Having our own medical school class at CBU and an expanded selection of residency spots, including specialties, allows for the majority of training to be done on the island and increases the rate of retention of future graduates,” Murray said.
“It also adds to the pool of clinicians in training who are able to help current staff physicians carry the heavy burden in an overstressed system.”
There are two med schools in Atlantic Canada — one at Dalhousie in Halifax and another Memorial in St. John's. In 2018, those schools admitted a total of 192 students to the programs.
— Nancy King
SOCIAL CUTS PUT ADDED PRESSURE ON SYSTEM: ADVOCATE
Chris Parsons, coordinator for the Nova Scotia Health Coalition, believes seemingly unrelated decisions are contributing to the erosion of healthcare staffing.
He suggests long-term cuts to other social programs that help the poor and marginalized, such as public housing and social assistance rates, have also brought about increased “diseases of despair,” like depression and substance abuses.
"People can't access the social services they need to prevent themselves from getting sick.
"Part of the problem is we have all these cascading problems that start elsewhere in society. They just end up having to be dealt with in the healthcare system as the last line of defense."
— Stu Neatby