Thousands of names have been added to the growing list of people looking for a family doctor in Nova Scotia – and that’s just in November alone.
Last month, 4,314 people were added to the list, while 2,081 were removed. That means more than 2,200 people were added in just one month.
Kevin Chapman, the director of partnerships and finance for Doctors Nova Scotia, says the numbers aren’t surprising and there are a number of reasons for the continued increase.
“We've long been saying the water's been leaking out of the bathtub faster than we can get the water in,” says Chapman.
Chapman says one of the reasons is at least 70 doctors in Nova Scotia are over the age of 70.
“They've practiced for a long time, but I think that they're getting burned out,” he says. “A lot of these folks have massive practices.”
Nicole McInnis know the struggle first hand. Two months ago she went to book an appointment with her family doctor only to discover she retired.
“She's done so much, she's worked so hard, but we're really going to miss her,” says McInnis. “Our whole family, our community.”
McInnis says at the store her mother co-owns, she's hearing that same story over and over.
“My mom’s business partner, she recently lost her doctor too, to retirement,” she says. “There's so many people that are without doctors. My partner, he is from Ottawa, and he's on that massive list as well.”
Chapman says it will take a younger physician a lot of time to come in and take over the thousands of patients from the retired doctor. But he says there still are options, including younger physicians working with an established doctor for a year before they retire.
“It is a supply demand issue. Right now where demand far exceeds supply, and we just need to figure out if you have a family physician, who might be able to do two or three days a week, let’s figure out how do we use that person,” says Chapman.
The waitlist for a family doctor in Nova Scotia has now reached 42,198 people.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.
