By Ashley Thompson

(Published by the Kings County Advertiser/Register)

Support is rolling in for a community-based campaign that aims to help the Soldiers Memorial Hospital Foundation meet a million-dollar goal.

As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, social workers Holly Richardson and Loralee Smith, who work with collaborative family practice teams in Annapolis County, thought that making check-in phone calls to support community members, particularly seniors, would be helpful.

Richardson’s collaborative family practice team members were ready to start making these calls after hearing about her idea. 

A plan had been developed previously by the practice’s physicians and nurses about contacting patients in the event of a large storm, so it was easily adapted for this purpose. 

By Deidre Taylor

Susan Savage joined the collaborative family practice team at North Queens Medical Centre in Caledonia two years ago as a nurse practitioner.  

The collaborative practice’s two nurse practitioners and family doctor provide primary care for residents of the small, close-knit community, along with those living in the surrounding areas.

At the end of March, Savage began providing virtual appointments for patients using Zoom for Healthcare, like many others, once it became available for health care providers in Nova Scotia.

By Margaret Angus

“Not all patients feel comfortable in a doctor’s office,” shared Heather Burton, member of the Kings and Annapolis Network of Patient and Family Advisors. 

“We know in order to have good patient experience, it starts with the first phone call and the first time you walk in.” 

That’s why this group of volunteer patient and family advisors (PFA) decided to host a workshop for office staff from local collaborative family practice teams and chronic disease teams in the summer of 2019. 

By Fraser Mooney

By mid-December, most high school students are looking forward to Christmas break. 

But at Digby General Hospital an enthusiastic group of students were looking forward to learning about health care careers.

On Dec. 12 a health care panel and discussion took place at Digby General Hospital to introduce local high school students to different professionals and job opportunities in health care.  

The goal was to encourage students to explore–and hopefully pursue–a health care career.   

By Melanie Jollymore

Any time his stage-four COPD flares up, Sheldon Williams can end up spending several breathless hours in the emergency room, waiting to be assessed and given the medication he needs to clear the obstructive secretions from his compromised lungs.

The Shelburne-area resident is eager to see if his participation in a health services study through the Shelburne Collaborative Family Practice will improve his access to timely care when he has a flare.

By Deidre Taylor

When Wendy Brenton moved back to Truro after 25 years, first living in Ontario and then the United States, she called her previous family doctor to see if he would be willing to accept her as a patient again.

“Understandably, he couldn’t take me back, since he was planning to retire soon.”

She called a number of family practices, and her sister told her to add her name to the Need a Family Practice registry.

By Aya Al-Hakim and Elizabeth McSheffrey

(Published by Global News)

Premier Stephen McNeil announced Tuesday that construction of a new primary care centre beside the Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Middleton, N.S., is set to begin this fall.

By Mairin Prentiss 

(Published by CBC News)

The Nova Scotia government is planning to build a new health centre in Middleton, N.S., that will cost $12 million, replacing an aging clinic next to Soldiers Memorial Hospital.

By Ian Fairclough 

(Published in the Chronicle Herald)

The provincial government has announced $11 million in funding for a new primary health-care centre on the grounds of Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Middleton.