McNeil Liberals make it harder for doctors to return home

More physicians leaving Cape Breton

SYDNEY - At a time when Nova Scotia should be welcoming more doctors back to work with 106,000 people in the province who don’t have a doctor, the McNeil Liberals are making it harder for young doctors to return home.

“Just last week, we again heard that more doctors were preparing to leave Cape Breton,” said Burrill. “Not only do the McNeil Liberals have no plan to replace these doctors, we are also hearing from new graduates who want to come home, but find the current barriers too restrictive.”

Katelyn Grechuk entered medical school in the Caribbean with a plan to return to her home of Cape Breton to practice, but says the McNeil Liberals’ obsession with centralizing health care is making it impossible for her, and others like her, to come back.

“There is really no place like home, and I’d give up all the money to help the people and province I love most, but it’s frustrating because it feels like Nova Scotia is trying to deter us at this point,” says Grechuk. “Nova Scotia is the only province that does not give preference to their own residents in the international medical graduate pool.”

Grechuk says the Liberal physician recruitment and retention strategy has not been designed with adequate input from practicing physicians.

“Every other province prefers to hire from within, making the match hard enough, so why enter this uphill battle? We're against the odds in every sense," added Grechuk. "Many of us will be ready to settle down once we finish medical school, don't patients want that to be in Nova Scotia?”

“In this election there is only one party that will make sure young doctors are heard and respected,” added Burrill. “Young Nova Scotians with high quality medical training are an obvious priority in a province where 106,000 people don’t have a doctor. The NPD will work with physicians to reduce barriers and welcome them home.”

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