N.S. health care funds should address staffing shortages and primary care needs

The plan will provide Nova Scotia with $154 million in new money this year

CITYnews halifax\ Canadian Press

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HALIFAX — Doctors and nurses in Nova Scotia say new federal money for health care must be spent on primary care and increasing staffing levels. 

Dr. Leisha Hawker, president of Doctors Nova Scotia, says improving the primary care clinic structure will help attract new physicians to a province where 130,000 residents are without a family doctor.

She says increasing access to primary care will also reduce strain on emergency rooms.

Janet Hazelton, president of the Nova Scotia Nurses Union, says nurses are chronically short-staffed, and funding should be directed towards hiring more nurses.

The federal government has proposed a 10-year, $196-billion health spending plan, which adds $46.2 billion in new money to health care across Canada.

The plan will provide Nova Scotia with $154 million in new money this year, and $102 million annually in subsequent years.

Premier Tim Houston said yesterday that the federal cash would be “absorbed very quickly” by Nova Scotia, which budgeted $5.7 billion for health care in the April 2022 budget.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2023.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press