HALIFAX—The head of the organization representing the province’s doctors said the closure of a busy walk-in clinic in Lower Sackville due to a lack of physicians is symptomatic of a much larger problem.

“This is another unfortunate sign of the incredible crisis in our health care system and the shortage we have of family physicians across Nova Scotia,” Dr. Tim Holland, president of Doctors Nova Scotia, said in an interview Monday.

“Walk-in clinics are a critical safety valve. Whenever you’re in an environment where you have a large number of patients without a family doctor, it really is one of the only avenues that you can have to plug into the health care system.”

On Friday, the Community Care Walk-In Clinic on Cobequid Rd. posted a sign on its front door. It outlined staff’s “tremendous sadness and frustration” about closing after its “best efforts” to recruit new physicians failed. The note said the situation had left “an untenable work schedule on those of us remaining in the clinic.”

The clinic’s last day of operation is Tuesday, although the note states it “will likely” reopen in May under new ownership.

According to the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s latest ‘Need A Family Practice Data’ report, as of April 1 there were still 51,802 Nova Scotians on its waiting list without a family doctor.

Of that number, 20,333 were from the central zone, which encompasses the Halifax Regional Municipality, Eastern Shore and West Hants areas.

Those numbers don’t include people without a family doctor who haven’t put their names on the list.

Last week the family-doctor shortage was thrust into the spotlight following an emotionally charged Facebook video that went viral. Inez Rudderham, 33, said it took two years to be diagnosed with Stage 3 anal cancer because she didn’t have a family doctor. The mother of a four-year-old daughter called out Premier Stephen McNeil for not declaring a health-care crisis in the province.

As of Monday afternoon, the video had garnered close to 4 million views.

“Whenever we’re looking at these sorts of scenarios, we see a walk-in clinic close or we see some other symptom of the underlying physician shortage, it’s important that we keep mindful and focused on treating the underlying issue, which is the shortage of family doctors,” Holland said.

“It would be very easy to say, ‘Oh let’s dump a lot of money into walk-in clinics, really bolster walk-in clinics.’ But that’s just adding to the crutch and not actually dealing with the underlying disease.”

Holland said family doctors in Nova Scotia are among the lowest paid in the country, which significantly impacts retention and recruitment. He highlighted red tape and an “incredibly aggressive and punitive” audit process among other concerns. He said members of his organization would also like more direct engagement with both the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the Department of Health and Wellness.

Another key piece is a work environment that many of Holland’s physician colleagues across the country perceive as “hostile.”

“There are pains and strains across the country and I would be lying to you if I said otherwise,” he said.

“But when I’m talking to people in other parts of the country, we’ve earned a reputation of being a hostile environment to work as a physician and that our government doesn’t quite respect the work that physicians do.”

Holland pointed to the results of a recent survey by Doctors Nova Scotia that reflect that concern. About 70 per cent of physicians who responded felt the provincial government didn’t value their work.

“I do need to emphasize we do feel very valued by our patients, so huge thanks for that. We just wish that the government felt the same way as our patients do,” Holland said.

“While this is really disappointing about this walk-in clinic closing … we need to keep mindful of the large picture here and really work toward better recruitment and retention through improved compensation and improvement in our work environment issues.”

In an emailed statement regarding physician recruitment and retention, the Nova Scotia Health Authority said the family physician shortage was a challenge, particularly since many other provinces are also experiencing shortages and competing directly with Nova Scotia.

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But NSHA spokesperson Carla Adams said they’re making progress.

“In the last year we have seen 57 new family physicians come to Nova Scotia,” she said, adding there are still challenges attracting physicians to some communities.

“Our recruiters are visiting events across the country and internationally to sell the many benefits of living and working in this province,” Adams said. “And there is interest. We have scheduled about 40 site visits to take place over the next few months.”

Yvette d’Entremont is a Halifax-based reporter focusing on health. Follow her on Twitter: @ydentremont

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