New stats show more than 90,000 without a family doctor in Nova Scotia

HALIFAX – New numbers from Statistics Canada show more than one in 10 Nova Scotians don’t have access to a family doctor, with the Halifax-area seeing even lower access to a regular healthcare provider.

These numbers come four years into a provincial liberal mandate which promised a doctor for everyone, but over 90,000 people still remain without.

Numbers for 2015 were released last week covering people ages 12 and over and show that 91,800 people across the province don’t have a family doctor, with the majority in the Halifax area – just shy of 50,000 people.

That means 11 per cent of Nova Scotians don’t have a regular health care provider, and 14 per cent of Haligonians are going without.

Citing new doctors in Digby and the promise to 22 nurses for collaborative care clinics in several areas, Premier Stephen McNeil told Global News access to primary care has improved, and the promise of a doctor for every Nova Scotian within three years of coming to power is still a work in progress.

“We’re going to continue to work at that to make sure that we continue to provide access for Nova Scotians,” said McNeil.

Health Minister Leo Glavine said there would be a number of announcements for Halifax, Dartmouth and other parts of the province in the coming weeks, citing the changing makeup of family practices and HRM’s growing population as among the hurdles the department faces for dealing with issues of access to care.

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