The provincial government is considering Nova Scotia’s method of delivering health care to rural and remote communities.
The concept is called Collaborative Emergency Centres.
They are open 24 hours a day seven days a week and staffed by a primary health care team during the day.
At night, they are staffed by a team that includes a nurse and a paramedic.
A doctor oversees the team, but can be located anywhere in the province.
Rural and Remote Health Care Minister Randy Weekes is in Nova Scotia right now studying the idea.
He says it could help attract doctors to the province’s north:
“One of the big issues of course is being on call 24/7 and the stress, and the effect that stress has on the quality of life for that physician.”
No definite date has been set as to when collaborative health care might begin in the province.