Gordon Wilson says he and the Liberals are still trying to fix problems in healthcare created when the Progressive Conservatives were in power.
The MLA for Clare-Digby was responding to remarks made last week by Argyle-Barrington MLA Chris d’Entremont.
He said Wilson is happy to sit on his hands while 3000 patients in the Weymouth area remain without a doctor.
Wilson says the problems go back to when d’Entremont was minister of health.
Wilson says he’s been working with the community to improve the situation.
“The doctor situation not just in the Weymouth area but in the Digby area has been one of the biggest files that I’ve been working on since I’ve been elected, in trying to fix a problem that’s been going on for decades. This isn’t a new problem. This was a problem back when Chris d’Entremont was minister of health.”
Wilson says he’s proud of the accomplishments he’s made so far.
“We now have a nurse-practitioner working out of Weymouth once a week since June. To build on that we’ve established 22 nursing professionals that we’re going to hiring in the province. Four of them are going to be in the Western Zone, so that means we’re going to be serving at least another
2400 patients out of the Digby-Clare- Shelburne area. A week and a half ago we had a huge announcement in Digby to support primary health care in particular with dialysis with a six-station unit for Digby General which is a huge addition for our area for healthcare. We’ve developed a stake-holder group with the Nova Scotia Health Authority and all the leaders of health care that we have in our communities. That would be our people that run our clinics in Weymouth and Bear River, the head of our health foundation and our municipal leaders. We’ve had a series of meetings for almost a year to talk about Digby and to make sure what we’re doing is going to be sustainable. I certainly have not been sitting on my hands and I don’t think the people of this area would think that either.”
