Health district prescribes debt relief for new nursing recruits

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Interesting story: Health district prescribes debt relief for new nursing recruits

A rural Nova Scotia health district struggling to fill dozens of nursing jobs is proposing to help new staff pay off their student debt.

The South Shore District Health Authority has 30 vacancies for nurses at three hospitals, including Fishermen's Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg, where night-time emergency services are suspended until December because of the staffing shortage.

Authority CEO Kevin McNamara said older staff are retiring and it's difficult to recruit younger staff to rural areas.

He wants local politicians to consider spending money to help new hires pay off their debt, as is the practice in some other health districts in the country.

"We're not talking big dollars per person, but when they come in with a student loan, they will go where the debt can be erased quicker," McNamara told CBC News Wednesday.

In Lunenburg, he said, one problem is the price of housing: "So are there some things we can do to assist in those places?"

McNamara said officials with the district have spoken to the graduating class at Dalhousie University's medical school and plan to travel to Memorial University in Newfoundland to try to fill the vacancies.

Meanwhile, the future of the Lunenburg hospital is also up for review.
McNamara said one option is to downgrade it and transform it into a medical clinic.

"Most of the patients that are seen there are those who could be seen by family physicians," he said.

"Because physicians close their offices at suppertime and don't open until the next morning, or when you phone for an appointment it takes two to three weeks to get an appointment, people will migrate to an emergency department as a last resort."

McNamara said the district has a good emergency health system that can transport patients to other hospitals as necessary.