Doctor recruitment efforts ongoing in Digby
Phil Barrett doesn’t have a family doctor. But it’s because so many others in Digby County also don’t have one that he volunteers his time on a committee trying to recruit doctors to the area.
Retired from the RCMP, Barrett serves as a host when potential doctors come to visit.
“I show them around, show them the facilities,” he says.
But Digby isn’t the only place trying to attract potential physicians.
“This is the hard part about it. You’re competing with other communities who have the same desperate needs,” he says. “We’re lucky. We have a hospital that is functioning. The emergency department is open most of the time. We have a medical clinic. And we have seven nurse practitioners now. It really helps.”
But ideally, Digby County needs another four to five family doctors.
Doctor locums are helping out for the time being, with a doctor often visiting Digby three times a week. And nurse practitioners take on a huge load. But these are not seen as a permanent solution.
A local recruitment committee – made up of Barrett, Digby County resident Oliver Janson, Clare-Digby MLA Gordon Wilson, Digby Municipal Warden Jimmy MacAlpine and Digby Town Mayor Ben Cleveland – meets every five to seven weeks throughout the year on the issue of doctor recruitment and to explore other challenges facing the health-care system. The group holds sessions with the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
“Realistically, we’re probably servicing 18,000 people, and more towards Clare, some towards Annapolis,” Cleveland says.
Given the competition when it comes to attracting doctors, Cleveland is asked what he sees as Digby’s biggest selling point.
“I’ve always stuck with this, it’s about the community,” he says. “You hear on social media: you’ve got to pay them money. Money has really never come up in a lot of our conversations. Yes, money is important to them, but it’s about the community. If they get here and they like the people they first meet and they like the community, that goes a long way to trying to retain them.”
“Geographically we live in a beautiful area. Demographically it’s unique, when you look at the Islands, Digby Neck, Bear River, Weymouth, Digby itself,” he adds. “Culturally I think we’re unique, but of course a lot can say that.”
In addition to the members of the local recruitment committee, Cleveland says there are others in the community who also step up if/when perspective physicians come to Digby. The committee does its best to match up visiting doctors with people who share similar interests so they can also help to promote the area and what it has to offer.
“We’ve shown doctors around but the problem is we may be third on the list and there may be five or six other places,” Barrett says, noting collaborative health teams are an attractive feature for physicians. “For a doctor to come, you need a support mechanism with other doctors so they can take time off.”
The committee is also always on the lookout for Digby County natives who may be studying medicine, hoping they’d be open to coming back home.
One thing Cleveland notes when it comes to trying to attract physicians, people have to be mindful of what they are posting on online.
“It frustrates me to see people on social media saying things about their community or about the health-care profession, or about doctors and nurses,” he says. “If I’m a doctor sitting on the west coast and I’m thinking about coming to the east coast and I see that going on in the community, it’s going to turn me off.”
Meanwhile, asked if anything looks optimistic within the next six months, Cleveland says, “I would never say yes or no to that, although in saying that a doctor could arrive tomorrow.”
But while it’s hard to commit to optimism, the group does remain hopeful.
“We keep working on it,” says Barrett.