NS plans to plan for more docs
Posted May 9, 2012 12:19:27 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The province is running out of doctors, and it’s becoming a problem in rural Nova Scotia.
A consultant’s report tells the government that the shortage will worsen as more than 30% of physicians retire over the next decade, even as demand increases because of aging and chronic disease.
“We have been quite passive,” said Health Minister Maureen MacDonald. “We need to become more active, more coordinated.”
MacDonald says working with the Dalhousie Medical School to get more doctors trained and out into underserved areas will be one of the first steps, because people need need better care.
“In their communities,” said MacDonald. “Better access to primary care, family physicians, and the right specialists in the right locations.”
She says the province will give more incentives for doctors to practice in communities of need, and make more strategic moves to shape the physician workforce for the future.
