Cape Breton doctor says 9 more specialists leaving Island
Dr. Jeanne Ferguson says the departures include a cardiologist, respirologist, surgeon and psychiatrist
A Cape Breton doctor says nine more specialists plan to retire or leave the island in 2016, on top of the 13 the Nova Scotia Health Authority says were already lost in the past year.
Dr. Jeanne Ferguson, a geriatric psychiatrist based in Boularderie, said health care is becoming "unworkable."
She said she spoke with doctors and administrators, and determined that in 2016, Cape Breton will lose a cardiologist, a respirologist, an emergency room specialist, a psychiatrist, an infectious disease specialist, a surgeon, a physical medicine specialist and two obstetricians.
Ferguson said she believes some departures are fallout from the merger of nine regional health authorities into one, and said there there's been a lack of communication with doctors since the consolidation.
"When physicians call or write [the authority]," she said, "most of those calls or emails, at least in my own experience, are not returned, and certainly other physicians have said the same thing."
Doctors don't feel valued: Dr. Ferguson
Ferguson said doctors don't feel valued because there is no collaboration or consultation with them when decisions are made.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority has not contradicted Ferguson's list of departing doctors, but has refused to confirm it. It says 31 vacancies for specialists have been approved to be filled in the eastern part of Nova Scotia.
It says physicians have signed agreements for five of those vacancies and one is in negotiations. There is no indication where those positions will be located.
'Always ... coming and going'
"There will always be doctors coming and going. That is the nature of the health care system. They leave either temporarily or even permanently for any number of reasons: personal, health, retirements or education/specialized training," wrote health authority spokesperson Lesley Mulcahy in an email.
The CEO of the former Cape Breton District Health Authority, John Malcom, said it "seems odd" the island could lose so many specialists.
"That can spiral into even worse working conditions for the people who are here who may then decide to move on, so it's really important that that be turned around quickly," he said.
Authority says it's normal
But Dr. Jeremy Hillyard, who heads the eastern region for the health authority, is not concerned by the number of departures.
"I've checked into previous years," he said. "This level of turnover is about average for Cape Breton, for specialists."
The health authority says the two obstetricians leaving Cape Breton have been approved for replacement. In addition, the retiring obstetricians will provide temporary support to doctors who will fill in.
A replacement has been found for the surgeon who is retiring.
The authority is recruiting for an existing surgical vacancy and for an infectious disease specialist.
Hillyard says he's received good news from the rehabilitation centre in Sydney Mines. He says the physical medicine specialist who was retiring this month, has offered to stay until more help can be found.
Community leaders have organized a public health forum in Sydney, to be held June 12.
Organizers say they want to call attention to what they call the crisis facing Cape Breton health care.
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