Medical school ‘finally’ coming to Cape Breton by fall 2025: N.S. premier | 24CA News

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has confirmed the province will probably be getting its second medical college.

Houston made the announcement in his State of the Province Address in Sydney, N.S., on Friday.

“The rumours are true,” Houston mentioned. “By no later than Fall 2025, there will be a medical school in Cape Breton.”

This got here simply months after Cape Breton University started campaigning for assist to open a medical college on the island.

In a Nov. 11 article, Global News reported the college consulted native physicians and over 80 group leaders over the previous 12 months who have been supportive of the concept.

Gordon MacInnis, the college’s vice-president of finance and operations, mentioned timing for a brand new medical campus was proper.

“We look forward to tabling some very innovative solutions to make a real impact not only for Cape Breton, but for rural areas of Nova Scotia,” MacInnis mentioned within the November interview.

At the time, the Nova Scotia Health mentioned in an electronic mail it “has been consulted and is collaborating with the university.”

Currently the one medical college in Nova Scotia is offered by Dalhousie University in Halifax.

The household physician waitlist in Nova Scotia hit an all-time-high this month, with almost 130,000 residents ready for a main care supplier.

“The best way to address a doctor shortage is to train more doctors,” Houston mentioned within the Friday speech, including {that a} second campus is “finally happening.”

He mentioned the campus will probably be “focused on educating Nova Scotian students, more specifically focused on educating rural Nova Scotian students.”

Though the varsity will open no later than the autumn of 2025, Houston mentioned he will probably be pushing “extremely hard” for a fair earlier date.

“Nova Scotians feel the urgency, I feel the urgency,” he mentioned.

Houston mentioned he hopes residents see the federal government working laborious to handle points with the well being care system, and that progress is being made.

The feedback come three weeks of scrutiny following the current deaths of two girls in emergency rooms.

Allison Holthoff, 37, died after a seven-hour wait on the Cumberland Regional Health Centre emergency division in Amherst, N.S., on Dec. 31, 2022. Just a day prior, 67-year-old Charlene Snow waited for seven hours on the Cape Breton Regional Hospital emergency division earlier than giving up and going house, the place she died shortly after.

Houston mentioned the province will work to get the households their solutions. He acknowledged solutions received’t carry the ladies again, however that these on the prime are dedicated to making sure these tales aren’t repeated once more.

As for the price, he mentioned “whatever it takes.”

Houston mentioned well being care is a nationwide difficulty, however mentioned that Nova Scotia is fortunate.

“We have one of the best well being management group within the nation and for positive, for positive, now we have one of the best well being minister.

“We have highly trained, compassionate, dedicated doctors, nurses and ally health-care professionals across the spectrum.”

Houston mentioned the present system was not designed for Nova Scotia’s rising inhabitants and an growing older inhabitants, including that the federal government now should think about long-term options.

His plan, he mentioned, is predicated solely on “extraordinary growth.”

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