Doctors Nova Scotia is reacting to the death of Allison Holthoff, the 37-year-old wife, and mother of three that died while waiting for care at the emergency department.
President Dr. Leisha Hawker says ERs around the province are overcrowded as many Nova Scotians are relying on them as their sole source of medical services, “People who don’t have a family doctor often go to the ER because they can’t get help anywhere else,”.
President of Doctors Nova Scotia Dr. Leisha Hawker. Photo: Doctors Nova Scotia.
Dr. Hawker believes too many Nova Scotians are without primary care physicians who can help catch medical issues early and prevent them from becoming emergencies. “ERs in Nova Scotia is sort of a catch-all in that they see emergencies and non-emergencies.
However, in order to do that there need to be doctors available to take on patients something Nova Scotia has been struggling with for years.
Currently, the wait list for a family physician is over 130,000 people.
“ERs are sort of a canary in the coal mine in that they demonstrate how much pressure there is overall on the healthcare system,” said Dr. Hawker.
In order to avoid tragedies like this in the future, Hawker believes there are two ways to do so, first is to focus efforts directly on improving ERs, whether that be policy changes, recruitment, etc., and the other way is by improving primary care and other health services supports that help alleviate the burden currently being shouldered by ERs.
As Doctors Nova Scotia is a medical association and not a medical provider, they will not have an active role in the investigation into Holthoff’s death, but Hawker says their membership will be following the investigation’s findings closely.
