Skip to main content
Patient family advisors and collaborative family practice teams create more welcoming experience for patients

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 more
Multi-province primary care research project puts patients first

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.

Read more
‘It was great to get the call’: Nova Scotia patients pleased with Need A Family Practice registry, collaborative care experiences

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.

Read more
'The list worked for us': New Cumberland County residents become collaborative family practice patients through provincial registry

By 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 more
Video: Springhill collaborative family practice team works together

Learn 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 more
Health care with a tech twist at the Digby and Area Health Services Centre

By 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 more
Making connections through language

By 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 more
Brazilian nurse practitioner finds sense of community in Digby

 By 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 more
Patients benefit from comprehensive team-based care

By 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 more
Video: Garfield's story - Becoming a patient at the Westville Collaborative Practice

Find out how the collaborative family practice model is helping connect residents of Westville, Nova Scotia with new primary care providers.

Read more
Subscribe to Patient

NSHA Logo English