by About a thousand people packed yesterday’s emotional meeting on the doctor shortage in Cape Breton.
The opposition Progressive Conservatives organized the gathering at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion in Sydney.
One of the themes emerging from the meeting was the province’s move to consolidate local health authorities into a single provincial body.
Local geriatric psychiatrist Jeanne Ferguson says decisions on healthcare in Cape Breton are now made in Halifax.
The head of the former Cape Breton District Health Authority John Malcolm says their motto was, “We can do more for Cape Bretoners in Cape Breton.”
People at the meeting also backed a motion calling on the province to launch an inquiry into why doctors are leaving Cape Breton.
Meanwhile, the vice-president of the provincial health authority’s eastern zone, Tim Guest was at the meeting to explain their plan to recruit doctors to the Island.
He says they’ve recruited ten family doctors who are due to start working in Cape Breton over the next year.