Physician shortage begins to escalate

As local family doctors face retirement, the Nova Scotia Health Authority is urging patients to call 811 and have their names added to the list of people seeking a new physician.

Some outgoing doctors have started working with the NSHA to make sure a replacement is found to care for their patients once they retire, minimizing disruption for people who would otherwise go without.

“It does take time, so people are encouraged to be very proactive and start looking at that route,” said Dr. Ryan Sommers, medical officer of health for the NSHA’S northern zone. “The typical practice can have 1,300 to 1,500 patients. But someone who has been in the community for 25 years can have bigger practices of 1,500 to 3,000 patients.”

The NSHA’S latest figures showed 3,467 people in the Colchester East Hants region are currently without a family doctor. This compares to 2,232 people without a doctor in Pictou County, and another 940 in Cumberland County. All told, more than 6,600 people for the NSHA’S Northern Zone are without a family doctor.

Spokesperson Carla Adams said the NSHA did not track the numbers of doctors retiring in each region.

Two local physicians who retiring are Dr. Stephen Mccarthy and Dr. Robert Graham. Mccarthy was able to find a replacement doctor to take his patients. But local doctors and the NSHA are now working together to plug the gap caused by these and other retirements, through the Communities of Colchester Physician Recruitment Committee.

Heading the group is both Sommers and Brennan Gillis, who is also the Truro and Colchester Partnership for Economic Prosperity’s CEO. The group includes doctors, the mayors of Truro, Stewiacke and the County of Colchester, representatives from Millbrook First Nation and others from the local business community.

Its goal is to promote Truro and the county as an attractive place to both work and raise a family.

“On the physician side, we have a collegial and competent group of doctors who work together,” said Sommers.