**** NSHA Media Release
Health care options are expanding for Nova Scotians who do not yet have a family doctor or nurse practitioner
“Nova Scotia is growing at an unprecedented rate and the demand for health care is growing with it,” said Minister of Health and Wellness Michelle Thompson. “Measurements such as the Need a Family Practice registry make it clear that the old way of doings things just won’t cut it anymore.
“We are addressing this challenge by implementing long-term reforms to how we educate, recruit, and retain health care professionals. At the same time we have undertaken several immediate measures to improve access to health care across the province,” Minister Thompson said.
In the past 12 months, more than 27,000 people have signed up for the Need a Family Practice Registry because they are new to the area, accounting for 35 per cent of the growth in the registry. This number jumps to 40 per cent for people who joined the registry so far in 2023. As of Feb. 1, 2023, there are 133,595 people on the registry.
Minister Thompson highlighted the new avenues available to Nova Scotians looking to access primary health care services, these include:
- If you are on the Need a Family Practice Registry you can have an online appointment with a primary care provider through VirtualCareNS, Since last August the number of VirtualCareNS visits per month has doubled as more providers are recruited and hours expanded.
- You can receive expanded health care services at your local pharmacies. Pharmacists can provide free prescription renewals, vaccines, contraception, and assessment and treatment of common conditions like shingles and tick bites.
- You can receive an even wider number of services at 12 pharmacies where pharmacists will hold clinics and deliver expanded treatment to patients for free. The number of participating pharmacies is expected to double in the spring.
- You can visit Lawtons Pharmacist Walk-in Clinic Plus, where a nurse practitioner and pharmacists work as a team to provide primary care at drug stores in New Glasgow, Truro, New Minas, and Lower Sackville.
- You can call 811 to receive confidential health care advice from a registered nurse, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- You can go to a mobile primary clinic. Over the past four months, 35 mobile clinics have provided services in communities across the province where there is an identified need, assisting approximately 3,500 Nova Scotians.
- You can attend one of the three NS Health after-hours clinics that provide non-emergency appointments with a primary care provider in Berwick, Bridgewater, and Wolfville.
- You can go to one of the Urgent Treatment Centres located in five communities for non-emergency appointments with a primary care provider (Annapolis Royal, Pugwash, Sydney Northside, Parrsboro, and Baddeck).
- If you are dealing with a mental health and addictions crisis you can call 1-888-429-8167 24 hours a day. Mental health and addictions tools and resources are online: www.mhahelpns.ca
For more information about primary care programs and services, go to https://www.nshealth.ca/wheretogoforhealthcare to find services in your area.
To access the Nova Scotia Health Finding a Primary Care Provider monthly report go to: https://www.nshealth.ca/reports-statistics-and-accountability#finding-a-primary-care-provider-reporting
“The long term stresses on our health care system did not emerge overnight, and will take time to fix,” said Minister Thompson. “Our commitment remains consistent. We will do whatever it takes to solve these structural challenges while also doing everything we can to ensure expanded access to vital health care services for the Nova Scotians who need them right here, today.”
