Patients ‘definitely worried’ as Dartmouth walk-in clinic closes doors – Halifax | Globalnews.ca

Patients of a health-care facility in Dartmouth, N.S., are scrambling to find other options as a family practice in the area announced it will be permanently closing the doors to its walk-in clinic.

In a sign posted outside of the building’s entrance, Tacoma Family Medicine announced the clinic will cease operations at the top of next week.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the closure of Tacoma Family Medicine’s walk-in clinic. The walk-in clinic’s last day will be April 14th, 2024. The family practice of Tacoma Family Medicine will not be closing,” the statement read.

“We would like to thank everyone for their support over the years.”

Shelby Tobin, a patient of the walk-in clinic, said the location’s closure is a loss to the surrounding community in Dartmouth.

“I’m just going to have to travel longer and get up earlier to get on the bus to go to a walk-in (clinic) that’s further away from here,” she said outside the clinic on Thursday.

“I know other people are going to have to do the same.”

Tobin said that a two-hour waiting period before being assessed was the norm at the Tacoma clinic. Despite that, people would travel from outside the area to access the care provided at the facility.

“All of the people who travel here are going to end up congealing in another area that offers walk-ins, until they (another group of doctors) don’t,” she said.

Tobin, who doesn’t have a family doctor, said the clinic was a helpful alternative.

Global News reached out to Tacoma Family Medicine for comment but was told that staff are unavailable for an interview.

Closure ‘one step back’

Dr. Colin Audain, president of Doctors Nova Scotia, said he isn’t surprised by the clinic’s closure considering the shortage of family doctors in the area.

“I feel badly for the people in that community,” he said.

“On the other hand, I’m heartened to know those physicians who run that clinic are staying in the community. I imagine that part of that decision is based on finding a work-life balance between running their family practice and doing additional health care like the walk-in clinic.”

Audain said this recent closure is reflective of limited progress made throughout the province regarding access to primary health care.

“It just tells us we’re still in the same situation that we were in a year ago. Almost the same number of Nova Scotians are without attachment to a family physician,” he said.

“From a retention point of view, I think there’s been a positive impact. But we also know there’s been a significant movement of people into the province so even as we get more physicians into the province, if we have a larger population, it’s going to influence the numbers to some degree.”

Claudia Chender, leader of the Nova Scotia NDP, said the Tacoma walk-in facility was one of the few accessible clinics throughout the Halifax area.

“People are (being) left with no choices. You have a walk-in clinic and it’s full by the time the doors open, if it stays open, or you have an emergency room where you might have to wait for 12 hours,” she said.

“We have a doctor’s waitlist that is doubling and quadrupling. We have investments in technology and an app but when we talk to Nova Scotians, when I talk to people in Dartmouth, they say ‘I want a doctor’.”

She described the clinic’s closure as the province’s health-care situation taking “one step back.”

“The focus needs to be on primary care and making sure Nova Scotians have a doctor’s office to go to when they don’t feel well,” Chender, who also represents the Dartmouth-South area, continued.

“The less we pay attention to primary care, the more we’re in trouble with emergency care.”

‘We’re definitely worried’

Paul George said his family has attended the Tacoma Family Medicine walk-in clinic since moving to Nova Scotia six years ago. Now that the location is closing, he said he’s unsure where his family will go next.

“Our files and everything are already here. We’ll have to find a new place … we’re kind of sad,” he said, adding that he was at the clinic on Thursday to gather documentation containing his family’s medical history ahead of Tacoma’s closing date.

“We’re definitely worried.”

George, like Tobin, is without a family doctor.

According to Nova Scotia’s data dashboard, there are 155,373 people on the Need a Family Practice Registry as of Mar. 1, which represents 15.7 per cent of the population. The number of people living in the province without a family practitioner increased by 2,678 since last month.

George said on some occasions, he’s waited in line at the Tacoma Family Medicine for almost six hours. Despite his family’s access to timely healthcare becoming increasingly difficult, he remains optimistic.

“Hopefully things will change, and we can find a new doctor,” he said.

— with files from Vanessa Wright

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