Annual Report 2021

Finding & keeping doctors

Many of us in the Tri-Counties know that it’s not easy to find a family doctor. That’s why Yarmouth Hospital Foundation financially supports the Community Navigator Program, part of the Physician Recruitment and Retention Project, an initiative in southwest Nova Scotia to attract and retain doctors in the local area. Rebecca Cassidy Rose (pictured right) was hired in September 2019, and continues in the role.

The Community Navigator is not a recruiter. Recruitment efforts are led by Nova Scotia Health and Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine. Her part is “to showcase our local communities and all we have to offer to medical professionals looking to set up or move their practice here,” Rebecca said, “by facilitating local tours for interested doctors.”

Although the foundation’s traditional role is to purchase equipment, “it became clear that we should, and we must, do this for the benefit of our hospital and our community,” said Dr. Harold Cook, board chair at the time the program was initiated.

Yarmouth Hospital Foundation provides $50,000 in annual funding to the Community Navigator program.