Woman gets family doctor in N.S. two years after joining registry – Halifax | 24CA News
After listening to many tales of the troubles to discover a household physician in Nova Scotia, one girl has now acquired the decision after a two-year wait.
Although relieved to now not be one of many greater than 150,000 names on the Need a Family Practice Registry, she says it doesn’t make the fear go away.
“The waitlist is a big, big problem,” says Shira Lurie. “The burden and the burnout on our health-care workers is a big, big problem.”
When the assistant professor at Saint Mary’s University moved to Nova Scotia, her prime precedence was placing her title on the physician waitlist.
Lurie has lived within the United States and Ontario and says she has by no means confronted such limitations.
“When people ask me how is living in Nova Scotia? How do you like it? I say the people are great, the beaches are great, I love so many things about it,” she says. “But I’m so, so anxious about the health-care situation.”
Shira Lurie is completely happy to now have a household physician after a two-year wait, however she’s nonetheless fearful in regards to the state of healthcare.
Skye Bryden-Blom/Global News
Lurie has a persistent sickness and is immunocompromised. The previous few years have been robust, forcing her to depend on her specialist together with walk-in clinics and telehealth providers.
“The last thing you want to do when you feel sick or have some kind of healthcare issue is to look up a walk-in clinic,” she says. “To go there and wait in a long line before the clinic opens and sit in a waiting room with people coughing.”
Lurie has been retaining a detailed look ahead to any updates since including her title to the registry. When the province introduced in June it was revamping the checklist to permit sufferers so as to add their well being historical past, she instantly crammed out the questionnaire.
When a latest e mail got here in notifying her of a gap, she responded inside minutes. Despite the reduction, she nonetheless has issues.
“The person that I was paired with is a man and I would prefer a woman to be my primary-care physician,” Lurie says.
As somebody with compromised immunity, she’s additionally fearful about safety from COVID-19 for herself and the group.
“When I called the clinic to set up the appointment they told me they’re no longer masking in their clinic. They don’t have HEPA filters or anything to clean the indoor air, and that’s a huge concern for me,” Lurie says.
Although completely happy to lastly have a health care provider, Lurie says she feels “stuck” and powerless to advocate for the sort of care that she desires.
Lurie additionally worries about different Nova Scotians who may not have the identical alternatives to verify if a health care provider has been discovered for them.
“I can imagine for people coming here who don’t speak the language, who haven’t heard of the Need a Family Practice, who don’t have regular access to email, who don’t have regular access to the internet, there is simply no way that they are going to be getting off this list — if they’re ever able to get on it,” she says.
In an announcement, the Department of Health and Wellness says 26 medical doctors have signed up since June for a brand new incentive which gives them $10,000 in the event that they take 50 of the best wants sufferers off the registry. That has resulted in additional than 1,300 sufferers and their members of the family being faraway from the checklist.
“These are patients with the highest needs who are now getting the specialized care they need,” the assertion says. “The deadline to apply for this incentive is Oct. 31. We have heard from more interested physicians and (are) confident more will apply before the deadline.”
Meantime, Nova Scotia Health is working with the Department of Health and Wellness to substantiate the accuracy of the Need a Family Practice Registry.
“We have identified a group of 17,500 people who appear to be connected to a primary care provider, and Nova Scotia Health staff are calling them to verify this,” spokesperson Brendan Elliott stated in an e mail. “Our goal is to complete these calls and update public reports with the new information by Aug. 31.”
Lurie says this could be an excellent news story for her, nevertheless it’s additionally a reminder of the challenges many are dealing with as they navigate an over-burdened health-care system.
“It feels like the system is failing all around you,” she says.
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