Latest news with #KarenOldfield
CBC
7 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Nova Scotia's need-a-family-practice registry hiding full picture, NDP says
The health critic for Nova Scotia's NDP is calling for more data to be released on the province's primary-care provider waitlist. Nova Scotia Health used to release a detailed report showing how many people were added and removed from the list each month, as well as where they were located in the province. Now, the health authority only announces the monthly total. At a meeting at the legislature on Monday, interim CEO Karen Oldfield celebrated the progress they've made in the last year, bringing the list down by nearly half. It now sits at 87,879 Nova Scotians who need a physician or nurse practitioner. "On the one hand, I'm ecstatic because the work that we're doing is working," she said. "On the other hand … we have a lot of work yet to do." When pressed by the NDP's Rod Wilson, Oldfield said that 24,990 names have been added to the waitlist since January. Wilson says they're manipulating the data. A release from the health authority in July said 1,576 people had been attached to a new provider. What it left out was that 5,001 people were added to the list, a number Oldfield revealed in the meeting at the legislature. "We just want the full disclosure," Wilson said after the meeting. "It's not a big ask for people to know how many in my community, what's the government's project plan and when might I get to a primary-care provider?" Part of the reason why the list is going down is the verification process. Nova Scotia Health is calling everyone on the list to make sure they haven't moved away or found a provider on their own. Oldfield said the health authority still has to verify about 27,000 names and she expects that work to be completed in the fall. But she won't commit to releasing more detailed reports at that time. "Once we figure out where we are and what we're looking at going forward, we can make some determinations about what's the right thing for Nova Scotia and for the Department of Health and Wellness." Oldfield said it would be impossible to eliminate the list altogether, because people are always moving and practitioners are always retiring, but her goal is to match people to clinics as much as possible. She said the health authority knows there are people in need of a family doctor who aren't on the list, and is encouraging them to contact 811. "We can't help them if we don't know."
CTV News
13-08-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Nova Scotia reports progress with health-care homes model
The province of Nova Scotia is changing the model of health care is changing from one patient and one doctor to attaching patients to health-care homes. The face of health care is changing in Nova Scotia and while the province is still dealing with a long list of patients without a family doctor, the model is changing from one patient and one doctor to attaching patients to health-care homes. Nova Scotia Health interim president and CEO Karen Oldfield says while there's still work to do, they are making progress. 'Today's primary health care is delivered by teams that include family physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, dietitians, pharmacists, physiotherapists and so many others,' said Oldfield. The province is shifting the way it delivers primary care and has been moving its focus to building team-based clinics or health homes for awhile now. There are currently 118 health homes operating across the province. The Progressive Conservative government, which was elected in August 2021, largely campaigned on a promise to fix health care. Four years later, Oldfield says they are making great progress now, referencing the number of Nova Scotians they've helped connect to primary health care. Last year there were 160,234 people on the need a family practice wait list. That's 16.2 per cent of the province's population. The latest numbers from July show 89,455 people, or 8.3 per cent of the population, are still on the list. 'I'm ecstatic because the work that we are doing is working,' said Oldfield, who credits a range of strategies from recruitment and retention to new technology in helping bring down the wait list. 'It's a little bit technology and it's a whole lot of effort from people across the province.' Nova Scotia legislature The Standing Committee on Health met at the Nova Scotia legislature to discuss primary health care attachment. (Jesse Thomas/CTV News) The provincial introduced the LFM, or Longitudinal Family Medicine, payment model in 2023 for family doctors, which increased their salaries if they take on more patients. Nova Scotia added 253 new doctors last year, which worked out to a 187 net gain, almost double the number of physicians added the year before. There are now 536 family physicians and 126 nurse practitioners working across the 118 health homes. Dr. Colin Newman, president of Nova Scotia's College of Family Physicians, says education is key. 'Increasing medical school enrollment, creating positive learning environments in family medicine and providing high quality community-based family medicine training to our graduates, is the pathway to putting more well trained family doctors in our community,' said Newman. Last year Nova Scotia increased the number of family medicine schools seats from 58 to 114. Karen Oldfield Karen Oldfield is the interim president of Nova Scotia Health. (Source: Jesse Thomas/CTV News Atlantic) For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CTV News
11-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
As N.S officials discuss $4.5B hospital expansion, CEO says a new one likely needed, too
Karen Oldfield, the interim president and CEO of Nova Scotia Health, speaks to reporters after appearing before the province's public accounts committee where healthcare facilities were top of mind. (CTV Atlantic/Callum Smith) Officials in charge of the $7.4-billion QEII Halifax Infirmary expansion and maintenance project appeared before a legislative committee on Wednesday, offering some details – but not others – about where the project stands and where it's heading. During those discussions though, Karen Oldfield, the interim president and CEO of Nova Scotia Health, said a new hospital may also be required in the coming years. 'I don't want to presuppose an outcome, but I would be shocked if there was not some indication of another major or regional hospital being required in the Central Zone over the course of the planning horizon,' Oldfield said. 'I'm not announcing that, I'm not saying that,' she said. 'I'm intuiting that.' The population growth, particularly in the HRM, 'makes it very necessary to figure out just how we're going to build out the Central Zone,' she continued. But building is only part of the battle. She acknowledged staffing, timing and budgeting are only some components that need to be considered as part of the health authority's master plan. While speaking to reporters, Oldfield said several population factors will put even more pressure on the system. 'We're almost in a race against time to prepare for that peak to have the healthcare facilities ready, to have long-term care facilities ready. 'It's the demographics, it's the age, but it's also the baby boom that's hitting – I think it peaks out at 2035 – where a significant percentage of Nova Scotians are over age 65, and then it comes back down again,' Oldfield said. Acknowledging that a larger percentage of an aging population will likely lead to higher healthcare needs and long-term care needs. Oldfield said when she was appointed to her role by Premier Tim Houston in 2021, Nova Scotia Health did not have a 10-year capital plan, which makes it 'very difficult to plan when you don't have a long-term plan.' Construction update Oldfield said the QEII Halifax Infirmary expansion project's design phase is nearly 75 per cent completed, 'and that work is being shaped by those who use the spaces every day.' The first two cranes arrived last month and two more will arrive later this summer as part of the largest infrastructure project in the province's history. Construction crews started pouring the foundation last month and the concrete structure will rise to the main floor in December, 'marking a significant milestone,' said David Benoit, the CEO of Build Nova Scotia. Benoit reiterated numerous times to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts that the $7.4-billion price tag – including $4.5-billion in construction costs and $2.9-billion for 30-year maintenance costs – is part of a 'firm fixed price and schedule.' 'If things arise, like tariffs or hurricanes, or unexpected, unforeseeable things, there are clauses in the contract which allow for a conversation to happen,' he said. 'I'm comfortable that we got value for money, but you don't have to take my word for it,' Benoit told the committee. He told reporters a long-awaited 'value for money' document will be released to the public, likely within 'days.' When asked how tariffs could impact costs, John Volcko, PCL Constructors vice president of corporate development, said they learned a lot about price volatility and escalation during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Within our bid, we've got certain allowances, certain contingencies to deal with unexpected things like that,' he told reporters. Interim Liberal leader Derek Mombourquette asked that the contract between the province and Plenary PCL Health (PPH) be tabled at the committee. The expansion will see a new, modern, 14-floor acute care tower with 216 beds, 16 operating rooms, a 48-bed intensive care unit and an emergency department that is nearly twice the size of the current one. It is expected to open in 2031. It's still not clear how many new staff will be needed and how many will come over from the Victoria General (VG) Hospital. Hotel rooms required At the construction peak for the QEII Halifax Infirmary project, there will be 850 to 1,000 workers, Volcko said. About two-thirds of those will be from Nova Scotia and the rest will come from out-of-province 'where there's just not sufficient skilled labour.' In response to a question from the NDP and Liberals, Benoit said there are ongoing discussions with Nova Scotia Community College about the void. For those workers coming from away, Volcko said 'there just was not sufficient time to put up a temporary lodging.' He said all 238 rooms at the Atlantica Hotel will be taken up by workers at some point. 'It's expected eventually we'll take over all the rooms and then there will be a tail where we don't need all the rooms again,' he told reporters. He couldn't say how many more rooms may be needed because he's not sure how many workers will be from out of town. 'Our first objective is to employ local talent, local skilled labour,' Volcko said. 'If our peak is in three years, you know, we've got some time to build a workforce.' Karen Oldfield Karen Oldfield, the interim president and CEO of Nova Scotia Health, speaks to reporters after appearing before the province's public accounts committee where healthcare facilities were top of mind. (CTV Atlantic/Callum Smith) For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
07-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
Health authority interim CEO calls for further integration of AI into health care
Social Sharing Nova Scotia needs to merge artificial intelligence into the health-care system by way of a research centre, says the interim CEO of the Nova Scotia Health Authority. At a panel discussion on Friday at the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Karen Oldfield said AI has been introduced to the health-care system in small amounts, but more needs to be done. "We have to lay this foundation," Oldfield said. "But to get to the predictive analytics, to wellness, to precision medicine, we have to have this." Oldfield says that the next logical step for the province is to develop a centre of excellence, meaning a hub dedicated to overseeing and researching AI. Oldfield expanded on this, saying AI would improve clinical efficiency and administration. Oldfield said AI could be used to determine a population or community with a higher likelihood of contracting diseases, like certain kinds of cancer. "If we can predict, then we can get ahead of it," said Oldfield. "That's really where most provinces and most countries want to get.... That's where we need to head." Oldfield says the development of such a centre would be dependent on people more than money. "We need the researchers that are able to use that data …to develop their algorithms that can lead us to predictive analytics and precision medicine," said Oldfield. The proposed AI centre for excellence is only in its early stages. Oldfield says she has had conversations about a centre with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and various members of the federal government.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nova Scotia Health approaching goal of reduced surgical waitlist
The interim head of the provincial health authority says enough progress has been made to reduce the surgical backlog in Nova Scotia that she's not looking over her shoulder. In December of 2022, Karen Oldfield vowed before the legislature's health committee — first asking for a Bible to swear upon before crossing her heart in the absence of the Good Book — that the backlog would be reduced by 10,000 people by mid-2025. At the time, the list stood at about 22,000 people. Such a decrease would bring the province in line with national benchmarks for surgical waitlists. "I'm not going to hell," Oldfield joked with reporters Friday following an appearance on a panel at a Halifax Chamber of Commerce luncheon to discuss innovation in health care. "We are 1,500 surgeries away from what we would consider to be an appropriate [waitlist]. With any luck, we will hit that this year." Statistics released by Nova Scotia Health show the province's waitlist as of April 1 of this year was 15,769 people. That's down from 17,369 people the same time the year before, and 19,917 people as of April 1, 2023. The procedures with the largest number of people waiting are cataract extraction (3,564), knee replacement (1,274) and hip replacement (783). Oldfield said the progress comes down to the health authority's ability to make a plan and stick to it. "There's no magic," she said. "It's focus and discipline to do it." Although the health authority announced in 2023 a premium for doctors willing to work outside traditional hours in order to cut into the backlog, Oldfield said the biggest factor in making progress has been getting staffing levels back to where they needed to be coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We did lose a lot of staff. Not just because of COVID, but people — they burn out, they age out, they retire. So we've been through a period of resurgence." Oldfield said she would like to see more surgeries happening during off-hours, but there needs to be a certain level of staffing to be able to make that work and take full advantage of available operating room time and equipment. "When we have assets, you want to use your assets," she said. "And when they sit idle, that's not a good thing. So we still have lots of time across the province that these could be used." MORE TOP STORIES
