Three new health-care homes are coming to the Halifax area, and the province hopes they will take more 20,000 patients off the family doctor waitlist.
The government says two will open in October, but it could be delayed if they cannot hire enough staff, or if they hit a roadblock during construction, according to a news release. A third health-care home is already open but needs more staff to reach full capacity.
A health care home is different from a typical primary care clinic because the health homes have additional specialized health workers, like physiotherapists, social workers, dietitians, etc., in the same building, working in conjunction with the physicians. The province used to call them collaborative care clinics.
Hobsons Lake Health home, located at 168 Hobsons Lake Drive in Beechville, opened in June with one family doctor, a nurse practitioner, and a family practice nurse.
They want five more family doctors, two more family practice nurses, another nurse practitioner, as well as one full-time and one part-time licensed practical nurse, according to a news release.
Once they have all those staff, the facility will take on about 8,600 patients.
The Citadel Health Home, located at the former location of Cleve’s Source for Sports in the Park Lane Mall in downtown Halifax, will be able to take on 6,000 patients.
That location needs four family physicians, one nurse practitioner, three family practice nurses, and one licensed practical nurse, the province says.
The third health home is heading to Halifax’s north end. It’s called the Needham Health Home and will take 8,600 patients.
But first, it needs six family doctors, one nurse practitioner, three family practice nurses and once licensed practical nurse.
The province says they will eventually incorporate the specialized health-care workers to give the health homes their collaborative style of care.
