Tina Hennigar and Lynn Hennigar from NOW Lunenburg County make a presentation to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development May 28, 2019.
Now Lunenburg and the Health Services Foundation of the South Shore announced in a statement a partnership to work on an issue they are both passionate about “bringing doctors to serve the people of Lunenburg County.
Tina Hennigar is the Population Growth Coordinator for NOW Lunenburg and says the success of the partnership will be judged by a series of indicators set up between the two organizations.
Most of the funding will go towards attending recruitment seminars held around the country and to allow potential doctors to come and tour the South Shore to get a taste of what the region has to offer.
Hennigar says it’s important to show there is more than just a good job here for potential doctors.
“What we’ve heard from people is it can be hard to find meaningful employment for spouses or making sure your kids are signed up for school or extracurricular programs when they come here. So we want to show these doctors something outside of just the hospitals and help them with those things that help make the South Shore feel like home.”
The partnership comes in the form of $60,000 in funding for Now Lunenburg which will be provided by the Health Services Foundation of the South Shore.
“Our goals are the same,” Arleen Stevens, the Executive Director of the Health Services Foundation of the South Shore shared. “We have heard loud and clear from our donors and the community that we (the Foundation) need to help recruit a physician to our community. Through conversations with the Nova Scotia Health Authority and NOW Lunenburg County, we feel confident in supplying this funding to continue the great workaround physician recruitment already underway on the South Shore. By working together, we feel strongly we’ll be more successful than working separately.”
Programs like this have led to success in the past and recently they hosted a physician for a six-week term who they are hoping will soon fill a vacancy.
