HALIFAX – Nova Scotia health officials say they are making progress recruiting health professionals and in reducing the province’s primary care wait list through an emphasis on collaborative care.
Dr. Aaron Smith, provincial medical executive director with the province’s health authority, told a legislature committee today that clinics with multidisciplinary teams attract doctors.
Smith says in the past year all of the 89 primary care physicians who came to work in the province were recruited into clinics featuring other health professionals.
The legislature committee was told there are currently 118 so-called health homes or collaborative-care clinics where health teams provide a range of care.
However, officials can’t say how many of the clinics will ultimately be needed to ensure primary care coverage for most Nova Scotians.
The officials credit the multidisciplinary teams with helping to reduce the patient wait list to over 91,000 in June, down from a peak of 160,000 people without primary care a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2025.
