'That’s the biggest jump I’ve seen': Maritime provinces see doctor wait lists grow
Bernadette Landry recently lost her family doctor, someone she had been seeing for years.
So, she says it doesn’t surprise her to hear the wait list for a primary care practitioner has grown by the thousands so far this year.
New Brunswick’s Department of Health says the list sits at about 74,000 people.
“You have to wonder sometimes, why doctors decide to leave?” she said. "Their working conditions are not always ideal, that is for sure. It's like all health-care workers, they're all being stretched out to the limit.”
As chair of the New Brunswick Health Coalition, she says many seniors — like her — are concerned about the move to e-visits, stressing it’s not the same as expressing health concerns in person, and building trust with a single practitioner.
In a statement Monday, the department said it has recruited nine family physicians, but in the same time frame, lost 10. They’re promising more emphasis on recruitment incentives, aiming to be more competitive with other provinces and countries.
It’s also working on rolling out its new New Brunswick Health Link, which promises to remove people from the waitlist and connect them with a practitioner when they need one until a permanent replacement is found.
Work is underway on the program, which is currently focused on the Moncton region.
The New Brunswick Medical Society called the growing list “disheartening.”
“While efforts are underway to recruit new physicians to the province, we also need to work harder to ensure current New Brunswick physicians are being supported and appreciated in order to strengthen retention,” said president Dr. Mark MacMillan in a statement.
“In the meantime, we are hopeful that the New Brunswick Health Link will help facilitate access to care for those patients without a family physician and we look forward to the results of its initial rollout in the Moncton area.”
Nova Scotia isn’t immune.
According to the Nova Scotia Health Authority, 105,187 Nova Scotians are on the Need a Family Practice Registry as of Aug. 1 — up from 100,592 on July 1.
It’s an increase of 30,000 people in less than a year.
“That's the biggest jump I’ve seen in a year since I’ve been elected for 12 years,” said Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill.
The top reasons as to why range from population growth, to doctors leaving or retiring.
The August report states that 37.6 per cent of people said they wanted to be added to the registry because they were new to an area, and 24.7 per cent reported their provider had moved or closed their practice.
“There's another half of those folks who are leaving the profession for other reasons and a big thing we're hearing is, they're exhausted. They're dealing with wave after wave of COVID-19 and it's putting so much pressure on them and their colleagues that it's tapping people out,” Churchill said.
Prince Edward Island’s wait list sits at 25,261, as of Aug. 8. Of those, 383 have a primary care provider but are requesting a new one.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parliamentary report on Emergencies Act decision is 18 months past due — and counting
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Drone footage shows Ukrainian village battered to ruins as residents flee Russian advance
The Ukrainian village of Ocheretyne has been battered by fighting, drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows. The village has been a target for Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Bystander livestreams during Charlotte standoff show an ever-growing appetite for social media video
Saing Chhoeun was locked out of his Charlotte, N.C., home on Monday as law enforcement with high-powered rifles descended into his yard and garage, using a car as a shield as they were met with a shower of gunfire from the direction of his neighbor's house.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Israel has briefed U.S. on plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of potential Rafah operation
Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.