Doctors NS hopeful winning party will move toward collaborative care model of health care

President-elect Dr. Leisha Hawker she’s hopeful whatever party is elected will have good plans in place to address COVID recovery, recruitment and retention of physicians and revitalizing primary care services

 HALIFAXtoday \  Chris Halef

Doctors Nova Scotia is looking forward to working with whatever party wins the provincial election this month.

President-elect Dr. Leisha Hawker says the organization is watching the election closely, as they are looking for three key things to come out of it.

She told NEWS 95.7 fill-in host Todd Veinotte she’s hopeful whatever party is in power will have good plans in place to address COVID-19 recovery, recruitment and retention of physicians and revitalizing primary care services.

“During the pandemic, we took a very systems-based approach and I’d like to see that continue where physicians, nurses and other health care providers can be further engaged and to learn from the ideas that they have and the lessons that were learned so that we can continue to recover from the pandemic,” she said.

Hawker is hopeful the province will look to revitalize primary care while moving to a more collaborative practice model.

“There’s a lot of evidence that moving toward a more collaborative practice model is the future of family medicine,” she said. “Research has demonstrated a reduction of wait times and also an improvement in the level of appropriateness of referrals and less duplication of services.”

Regardless of who wins the election, Hawker says they’re hopeful the party will engage physicians and work with them as partners going forward.