200 Ukrainian health-care workers are trying to work in Nova Scotia

A lack of doctors and long emergency room wait times have pushed Nova Scotia’s health-care system to the brink.

The good news is a program to bring Ukrainian health professionals to the province is seeing a lot of interest.

Two-hundred people have filled out the intake survey since the launch back in June.

“There are many physicians, different specialties that have applied and they’ve also indicated how many of their family members want to be part of the process as well,” says Tara Sampalli, Nova Scotia Health’s senior scientific director.

Dr. Daria Peremot from Kharkiv, Ukraine is one of them.

“I heard about the program and Nova Scotia, about doctors from Ukraine, and if I have a chance, I want to use it,” Peremot says.

The ear, nose and throat specialist has been practising medicine for 13 years.

She fled the war and is now working in a café in Iceland, but her goal is to practice medicine in Nova Scotia with her mother and mother-in-law.

“We are all doctors and now we are waiting for our visas. My mom is a cardiologist and my mother-in-law is a cardiologist and immunologist,” says Peremot.

Julia Guk, from Ukraine, is also the program manager. She says there’s a lot to consider when bringing in a health-care worker.

“Ukrainian healthcare professionals, most of them, are coming with family members and we want to learn how to support their families [who are] coming and not just the healthcare professionals,” says Guk.

Depending on the person’s job in the field of health care, Sampalli says there could be Ukrainian health professionals working in Nova Scotia within the next 12 months.

As for Peremot, she has submitted her résumé and she’s waiting to hear from Nova Scotia Health about the next steps in coming to the province.