GUYSBOROUGH — With rural healthcare services facing critical shortages, the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) is considering a new financial incentive program aimed at attracting nurse practitioners (NPs) to Guysborough and Canso.
During a recent council meeting, representatives from the Guysborough Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Eastern Memorial Hospital Foundation proposed a $50,000 incentive per NP, tied to a five-year return-of-service agreement. The initiative is modelled after MODG’s existing $100,000 doctor recruitment fund, which has seen some success in Guysborough, but has failed to attract physicians to Canso.
“A financial incentive program for doctors has had some limited success,” Bill Innis, chair of the Guysborough Memorial Hospital Foundation, told the MODG’s regular council meeting Feb. 19. “We’ve been able to attract several physicians to Guysborough via the fund, but the incentive fund has had no success in attracting physicians to Canso. I believe this lack of success in attracting physicians speaks to the very severe shortage of physicians in the country, and that every community, be it large or small, is competing to attract physicians available to hire.”
Hoping to combat the physician shortage that has plagued rural Nova Scotia for years, the MODG launched its doctor incentive program in 2021. Under the initiative, physicians who agree to practice in the region receive financial assistance, helping cover relocation costs, student loans or other expenses. The fund’s spotty results, however, are now prompting the area’s healthcare leaders to shift their focus to nurse practitioners, who also play a crucial role in primary care and could help alleviate pressure on local physicians.
“In order to offset [physician recruitment challenges], we are proposing that an incentive fund very similar to the existing fund be set up to attract nurse practitioners to both Canso and Guysborough,” explained Innis, who was joined in the presentation by Dr. Barbara Bell (a retired family physician and board member of the Guysborough Memorial Hospital Foundation), Angela Dobson (a retired nurse and vice-chair of the Eastern Memorial Hospital Foundation), and Melanie Newell (manager of Eastern Memorial Hospital).
“We propose an amount of $50,000 per nurse practitioner be awarded to candidates in exchange for a five-year return-of-service agreement,” Innis said. “We propose that the Guysborough Memorial Hospital Foundation administer the funds for the Guysborough area, and that the Eastern Memorial Hospital Foundation administer for Canso.”
Growing role of NPs in rural healthcare
Bell spoke about the invaluable role nurse practitioners play in providing quality care, particularly in underserved communities.
“I have had the good fortune to work with nurse practitioners for the vast majority of my career,” she said. “Before I came here, I was working in a group practice in Burlington, Ontario, and that practice was the first one in the province of Ontario to ever incorporate nurse practitioners. So, it was sort of the original collaborative care.”
Nurse practitioners are highly-trained professionals who can diagnose illnesses, prescribe medications, perform minor surgical procedures and provide chronic disease management. As their role continues to expand, making them an essential part of modern healthcare delivery, their recruitment can also be difficult, Bell said.
“We are lucky right now to have three local individuals who are training to become nurse practitioners. We are also surrounded by other communities who are looking for nurse practitioners and would be very happy to have any of the three local individuals that are currently in the program, and there may be another about to enter.”
Council expresses support
MODG councillors responded favourably to the proposal, while stressing that a decision [on funding] would be made during budget deliberations.
“I would just say it’s a great service,” said Fin Armsworthy (District 8). “We can’t make decisions tonight on these things, because we got to put it to staff, and they go from there. But, it’s all good stuff that was presented.”
One concern raised was whether nurse practitioners could help prevent emergency room closures, which have become a persistent issue in rural Nova Scotia due to staffing shortages. “I’ve noticed several times our ER is closed because we don’t have the nurses,” said Councillor Neil DeCoff (District 3). “If that was the case and there was a nurse practitioner there, could that person work with the doctor and keep our ER open?”
Bell clarified that, while nurse practitioners can play a crucial role in primary care, they are not necessarily a solution for emergency room staffing issues.
“There are some nurse practitioners who work in emergency rooms,” she said. “It tends to be in larger places where they’re support to the ER physicians and would see their own block of patients, but not every patient. So, I don’t know that a nurse practitioner would necessarily help us keep our emergency room open, but they might keep a lot of people from needing to go to the emergency room because they got the primary care soon enough to prevent it.”
Despite this, councillors agreed that nurse practitioners could significantly improve healthcare access in Guysborough and Canso.
“I’m quite impressed that we have three local individuals,” said Susan Cashin (District 6). “Keeping them in our municipality or in our county would be key, I would think. I hope that we can keep them, and I can see a lot of potential to have the caseload of the doctors lower, if we’re able to provide this locally.”
Warden Paul Long acknowledged the importance of recruitment efforts and reaffirmed the municipality’s commitment to improving access. “Healthcare is always a priority for everybody around the table here,” he said.
Council voted to refer the nurse practitioner incentive proposal to budget discussions, where it will be weighed alongside other municipal priorities.
While closures regularly affect Guysborough Memorial Hospital’s ER for a day or two at a time, Eastern Memorial Hospital in Canso – which serves a catchment area of approximately 800 people from Queensport to Tor Bay – has been without an open emergency department since February 1. Virtual urgent care there is available onsite Monday and Tuesday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Patient registration ends 30 minutes before closing. An urgent treatment clinic is scheduled Saturday, Mar. 1, and Sunday, Mar. 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. by appointment only. The phone line opens at 8 a.m. both days. To make a same-day appointment, call 902-366-3268.
