Amid a shortage of doctors in Nova Scotia, a Halifax family clinic was forced to announce that it is in fact not accepting new patients after they were overwhelmed by phone calls.
Family Practice Associates was inundated with requests from people in need of family doctors after posts on Reddit and Instagram suggested the clinic was accepting new patients.
“I think we got thousands of phone calls,” said Dr. Laniyi Ogunsanya. “We couldn’t do anything else.”
The surge in calls came after the clinic posted a sign to let patients know that there are two new physicians from the U.K. working in the office. The new hires were the result of recruiting efforts by the province to remedy a shortage of doctors.
There are thousands of people in Nova Scotia in need of a family doctor, despite these efforts. According to provincial waitlist data, there are more than 59,000 people in the province waiting for a family doctor, an increase of more than 1,000 since October. More than 6 per cent of people in the province don’t have a regular physician.
“There’s still a long way to go,” said Dr. Tom Holland, head of Doctors Nova Scotia, noting that it’s not just about attracting new doctors to come to the province, but keeping them there.
“We have to retain them as well. So as long as we keep our eyes on the prize, I’m optimistic we might start seeing some real impact over the next year.”
At Ogunsanya’s Family Practice Associates, the overwhelming amount of phone calls led the team to post a new sign at the clinic saying they are not accepting new patients, at least not over the phone.
The Nova Scoaita Health Authority says clinics can accept new patients in many ways, but recommends that they use the wait list. Dr. Ogunsanya says his clinic will now accept patients through the registry, hoping to service 1,500 patients.
With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Heidi Petracek
