Doctor shortage
Pictou County man off to Ont. for medical help.
David Trites says he was knocking on heaven’s door this past August when he returned to his mother’s home in rural Pictou County.
Weighing just 113 pounds, he boarded a plane from Ontario to Nova Scotia to recuperate from surgery for pancreatitis as well as lung problems.
“I was on my death bed,” he said. “When they let me out of the hospital, I would have been on my own there, so my family took me in and I moved back here.”
When he left Ontario, he was referred to specialists in Nova Scotia for further care, but every one of them kept telling David he needed to find a family doctor immediately for regular monitoring and prescriptions.
Janet and David say that is easier said than done. Two days after he arrived, Janet registered him on a provincial wait list for a family doctor and ever since has called government officials and doctors offices across northern Nova Scotia hoping someone would take him on as a patient.
“I’ve done everything I can think of,” said Janet. “There’s no stone I haven’t turned over trying to help my son.”
On Saturday, David will be boarding a plane to Ontario because he can’t get the medical help he needs here to be well again.
“I am just so frustrated,” said Janet. “I can’t believe my son has to leave Nova Scotia to get the care he needs. This is where we are and it’s just so sad.”
David said he will be going back to a province where he will be able to obtain a family physician within a week, but he will be alone, without the support of family.
Dr. Bill Lowe, department head of family medicine in the northern zone for the Nova Scotia Health Authority, said David’s struggle to find a family physician is not uncommon in Nova Scotia.
He said 1,600 people in Pictou County are without a family doctor. Recruitment is ongoing for the four vacant family practices in the county, but there is little chance of filling them in the near future.
“Rural areas are having a really hard time,” he said. “These numbers are a concern for me and I am concerned about the 1,600 people.”
Lowe said many factors weigh into the doctor shortage including the many job opportunities for medical graduates across the country.
“We are competing with the entire country,” he said, adding there are 17 medical schools across Canada. Some graduates do decide to practise in eastern Canada, but the numbers are not as high as they need to be.
“In the Dalhousie program, the number of finishing trainees who stay in Nova Scotia is a little above 55 per cent, which is better than some, but still not the number that we need to fill rural communities.”