A better way of using pharmacists is to let them see patients and write prescriptions for some of the more common ailments. That’s happening under a pilot project just announced. And Dr. George Burden says there’s a better idea than letting doctors retire, firing all their patients if they can’t find someone to take over their practice. He’s suggesting a stipend or salary as a way of enticing the 200 or so family doctors at or near retirement age to stay on. He says they could reduce their weekly patient load, giving them more of a work-life balance. And he says they can help younger doctors ease in to the role of taking on more patients needing primary care. Dr. Burden says it could help keep up to 250-thousand Nova Scotians from being orphaned and forced to find a new practitioner.

There was another epidemic that was exposed by the last three years. Lonliness. Governments of both the United Kingdom and Japan have deemed it serious enough to create entire departments to deal with it. And these Ministries of Loneliness are a response to pandemic isolation impacts on both the young and the old. Here in Nova Scotia, a simple act of kindness helped launch a program to connect seniors and their community. Cara Chisholm is a co-founder of We Are Young (WAY). The non-profit group has been around for close to a decade and has recently branched out to start offering their help in the Maritimes. From small acts of kindness to granting big-ticket wishes, the group is looking to brighten the lives of seniors and reconnect communities. And doesn’t everyone deserves chocolates and a note from someone who cares for Valentines Day?

Katherine Fierlbeck grinds her teeth everytime she hears someone say we need to take the politics out of health care. Because every problem and challenge we see in the system today is because of political policy and choice. And as an electorate, we need to accept some of the responsibility. She is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Dalhousie University. And she has also spent a great deal of time researching and writing about the intersection of politics and health policy. In this eye-opening conversation, she takes us through the history of hospital construction after the wars to the creation of medicare to the cost-cutting measures in the 1990’s that spawned the Federal Provincial war that continues to this day. Professor Fierlbeck explains why cost-cutting was rewarded while marginalized people get pushed to the fringes. And why we’ll end up paying a lot more later, if we don’t take care of things today. But it’s not the government. It’s just the government responding to what the people want.

It’s taken years to get us into the mess in health care. And it will take more than an election cycle to get us out. The author of a new book on public health care is trying to sound the alarm about the “fixes” that some jurisdictions are proposing to allow private health services. Catherine Mac Neil is a thirty year veteran who is still a Registered Nurse and a teacher. Her book is titled Dying to be Seen. And she is sounding the alarm over the risk of losing the entire system to Neo-Liberalism and privatization that won’t help the sickest people who may also be the poorest people.

Who is the person that was hand picked to rebuild a broken health care system? She’s served as a chief of staff to a former premier. She’s worked as the CEO of the Halifax Port Authority for almost two decades. And she’s a corporate lawyer by trade with an eye towards making a difference. Karen Oldfield is not just the interim CEO and President. She’s also the wife of a patient with chronic health issues. And she feels this is the biggest challenge she’s ever taken on. But with the help of the people supporting her, she feels she can do the work that should have been done years ago. She is looking to others for ideas and wants to make the most of the hardest job she’s ever had.

Affordability and the economy are top of the agenda as the Federal Cabinet gathers at a winter retreat in Hamilton, Ontario. Those are the topics the Prime Minister and his team are identifying as the biggest issues facing Canadians. But here in Nova Scotia, the crisis in health care is a huge issue. We have an older and less healthy population and our system appears to be struggling under a lack of Human Resources. What does that mean for Premier Tim Houston and his goal to “fix” health care? And are the political institutions relevant to most Canadians right now? Dr. Lori Turnbull is the Director of the School of Public Administration and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Dalhousie University. She takes on those topics and weighs in on Prime Minister Poilievre and whether Justin Trudeau should lead the Liberals in the next election against him.

Hospital care is primary about the nurses. If you are being admitted for surgery, it’s so that the nursing staff can look after you until you are discharged. And there’s been a lot of talk about the pressures on the Emergency Departments in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Health has recently announced ways to help support the nurses in those roles now and to encourage others to move into those positions. Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy is Chief Nurse Executive with The Nova Scotia Heath Authority. She describes what they’re doing to help support, train and keep Nurses and other front line health care workers in Nova Scotia.

A book she received as a child helped spark a lifelong interest in conspiracies an unusual tales. And Katy Jean has been turning that passion into fabulous stories for the SaltWire Network. Her most recent column connects a graveyard for 19th Century Veterans on the peninsula to a pile of headstones across the harbour at the back of a property in Cow Bay. The first of a three part series is about to be printed in The Chronicle Herald and at SaltWire.com. And Katy is hoping the publication of this story will prompt someone to come forward to help solve this mystery of the moved markers from Fort Massey Cemetery.

Our health care system may needing intensive care right now, but the prognosis isn’t as dire according to the people in the system. Doctors Nova Scotia President Dr. Leisha Hawker says it’s good to see the province making it a priority and making changes. Although some of the recent announcements by government for triaging emergency room patients has her concerned. She says the biggest issues throughout health care are human resource issues. We need more people and we need more primary care providers to ease the wait times in emergency departments. But Dr. Hawker is still optimistic and wants people to go for care when they need it. She also weighs in on the deaths of two women over the holidays and why that unfortunate outcome was predictable.

Our health care system is in the ICU. But it doesn’t have to be torn down and rebuilt. Janet Hazelton says it will take a lot of work to get the health care system back to where it needs to be. The long time president of the Nova Scotia Nurses Union says there’s a willingness to do the work necessary. For years people within the systems were trying to get the attention of the people in charge. And she says urgent care in Nova Scotia is nursing care and Nurse Practitioners could be a huge help. Hazelton discusses the importance of recruitment and training but also about the challenges in the retention of those in mid-to-late career positions. But in spite of it all, she’s still optimistic and offers one important piece of advice for patients who are treating health care staff poorly.