Province Partners with Federal Government to Improve Healthcare

Nova Scotia will use new funding from the federal government to keep building a healthcare system that will support patients and their families to get the care they need, faster.

The $1-billion, 10-year funding agreement will help the Province continue to increase Nova Scotians’ access to primary and mental health care, support healthcare workers and adopt cutting-edge technology to offer better, faster care.

“We are already working to transform Nova Scotia’s healthcare system so it better serves the people who rely on it,” said Premier Tim Houston. “We’re making investments in primary healthcare and better mental health and addictions supports. We’re investing in technology so our healthcare workers can spend their time with patients, not logging into outdated systems. We appreciate the federal government’s partnership and look forward to seeing what we’re able to accomplish together.”

The agreement in principle with the federal government focuses on four shared healthcare priorities that will help improve healthcare for Nova Scotians, including:

• access to high-quality family health services when they need them, no matter where they live
• a resilient and supported health workforce that provides them high-quality, effective, and safe healthcare services
• access to timely, equitable and quality mental health, substance use and addictions services
• access to their own electronic health information that is shared between the health professionals they consult.

Action for Health, launched last April, is the Province’s plan to improve healthcare. Nova Scotians have access to regularly updated data that measures progress on improving the province’s healthcare system for patients and healthcare professionals. Here is some of what the Province has done so far:

• guaranteed hiring all nurses graduating in Nova Scotia for the next five years
• expanded VirtualCareNS to give people access to primary care online
• streamlined the licensing process for physicians and nurses who have trained elsewhere
• launched mobile primary care clinics that travel to communities across the province
• offered paramedics a tuition rebate for a commitment to work in Nova Scotia for three years
• opened the province’s first mental health acute day hospital and new recovery support centres for people seeking help with substance abuse or gambling
• offered single-session counselling for Nova Scotians who need support for mild mental health concerns and an e-mental health tool to help with anxiety and depression
• reduced red tape and unnecessary administrative tasks for doctors
• added more nursing, medical school and paramedic training seats, and announced there will be a medical school campus in Cape Breton, the province’s second.

Quotes:

“Nova Scotians deserve a healthcare system that is there for them when they need it. We need more care, faster. That means more people working in the system, more ways to get care, and the technology to help our busy healthcare teams. We look forward to working with our federal partners toward these shared goals.”

– Michelle Thompson, Minister of Health and Wellness

Quick Facts:

• the funding is part of a $198.6-billion investment by the federal government to improve healthcare services for Canadians, including $46.2 billion in new funding
• collaborative work is already underway to support Canadians to age with dignity, closer to home, with access to home or long-term care

Additional Resources:

Action for Health: https://novascotia.ca/actionforhealth/

Mandate letter of the Minister of Health and Wellness: https://novascotia.ca/exec_council/letters-2021/ministerial-mandate-letter-2021-DHW.pdf