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.
Read moreBy 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.
Read moreBy 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.
Read moreBy Deidre Taylor
Elmer and Gladys Dow moved to the Parrsboro area from Barrie, Ont., last January to care for his mother, who was 103 years old.
When applying for a Nova Scotia MSI card from Access Nova Scotia, he asked about finding a family doctor, and was directed to sign up with NSHA’s Need a Family Practice registry.
Also new to Nova Scotia and without a primary care provider, Kathy and Jim Kurchak moved to Springhill from Winnipeg to retire.
Read moreLearn how the team at the Collaborative Family Practice in Springhill are making their healthcare model work for their community, and their work-life balance.
Read moreBy Isabelle d’Entremont
Most people know what to expect when they go for an appointment with their primary care provider. It usually involves chatting face-to-face in the exam room with a doctor or nurse practitioner.
So when patient Marie Wheelock was contacted about a virtual care appointment at the Digby and Area Health Services Centre, she was a bit apprehensive. But she quickly realized that it wasn’t very different from a regular doctor’s appointment.
“Once I’d seen how it worked, I was fine with it,” she said.
Read moreBy Margaret Angus
Gabriela Vellego’s first language is Portuguese. She also speaks fluent French, English and Spanish and is learning German and Italian. Languages aren’t just an interest for Vellego; they’re a passion.
Read moreBy Preston Mulligan
(Published by CBC News)
When Gabriela Vellego drove off the ferry last summer and into Digby, N.S., with her husband and three-year-old son in tow, she knew instantly this would be her new home.
Her family had been living outside Montreal and were looking forward to an East Coast vacation. She had no idea that vacation would become such a turning point in her life.
Read moreBy Margaret Angus
(Published in Nova Scotia Health's 2017/18 Annual Report)
"I liked it from Day One," Len Thomas said of his experience as a patient at the Eastside Collaborative Care Centre. He has been a patient at this collaborative practice in New Glasgow for the past five years.
Read moreFind out how the collaborative family practice model is helping connect residents of Westville, Nova Scotia with new primary care providers.
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