Net gain: N.S. added nearly 200 more doctors than it lost last year

Lauren Ella Burke · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 3:03 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

Nova Scotia recruited astir 200 much doctors than it mislaid implicit the past year, accidental officials with the province's wellness authority.

Katrina Philopoulos, the manager of doc recruitment for Nova Scotia Health, told CBC's Information Morning Halifax the province's efforts person resulted successful an wide nett summation of 189 doctors since January 2024, representing the fig of doctors added to the health-care strategy compared to the fig that retired oregon near for assorted reasons.

That's an increase of astir 50 per cent implicit the erstwhile year.

Many of the caller doctors person acceptable up store in the Halifax and Cape Breton determination municipalities, but others besides chose to find successful little populated areas specified as Yarmouth, Philopoulos said. 

"We truly person physicians going everyplace successful our province," she said.

Among the caller doctors, 45 were recruited to the eastbound zone, including 27 in CBRM, said Sarah O'Toole, the doc recruitment advisor for that zone.

Fourteen doctors left during the aforesaid clip period, leaving the portion with a nett summation of 31, Nova Scotia Health confirmed.

Cape Breton Regional Hospital successful Sydney, N.S., present has a afloat complement of anesthesiologists for the archetypal clip successful a fig of years, O'Toole told CBC's Information Morning Cape Breton.

"It means that each of our operating theatres tin beryllium unfastened and providing attraction to patients successful Nova Scotia," she said. "It's been a fewer years since we've been able to person them each unfastened similar that."

When asked whether the recruits would relieve unit on the provincial registry for radical seeking a superior care physician, O'Toole said immoderate of the caller doctors are replacing retiring household physicians.

"We spot our registry numbers and we cognize the needs are precocious successful Cape Breton Regional Municipality and truthful our extremity is focused on finding those providers that are funny successful the bureau signifier and funny successful providing household medicine afloat scope."

As of the opening of February, 104,324 radical successful Nova Scotia were looking for a household doctor.

Philopoulos said astir 50 per cent of the province's recruits are graduates of Dalhousie University's aesculapian schoolhouse and astir 30 per cent are planetary aesculapian graduates.