Plan for $4.5M collaborative care practice in Chester on track

The work of figuring out how to staff and run the new Our Health Centre collaborative care practice in Chester is back on track, the Nova Scotia Health Authority says.

Earlier this week, the chair of the community fundraising organization that's building the new practice told CBC's Information Morning that there had been little communication from the provincial health authority over the past six months.

"That's where we're frustrated, because we're doing exactly what the health authority wanted," Gretchen McCurdy said. 

"We're wondering why the authority and the Department of Health aren't helping us more. We're just three-and-a-half months away from opening, and our operations planning has been at a standstill."

$4.5 million price tag

The Our Health Centre is now under construction, and will be a two-storey building in the middle of Chester. It will house doctors, nurse practitioners and other specialists in a collaborative practice.

Other public health and community programs will be offered out of the new space.

The project has a price tag of $4.5 million, with $500,000 coming from the Department of Health and $250,000 from the municipality. The rest has been fundraised from within the community.

McCurdy said they have another $650,000 to raise, but she's confident the group can reach that target.

Pieces of the puzzle

Tricia Cochrane, vice-president with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, said the authority has spoken with the Our Health Centre community group, and has formalized its commitment to develop a collaborative care model in the new space.

"Some health authority staff will be moving into the centre, and we'll be providing an operational grant to support that," Cochrane said. 

"The other commitment needed was for the health authority to actually develop the primary care pieces of the puzzle that will work at that centre. We've been asked to play a more significant role in managing that primary health component, and we've agreed to that too."

'A perception of a delay'

Cochrane said the Health Authority never stopped working on those issues, in spite of concerns from those in the community like McCurdy.

"I would say it's a perception of a delay, while in the background there has been a great deal of work," Cochrane said.

"It seems simple, but there are complexities in the health care system around information technology, what roles various providers play in the care of individuals. So, how do we do that best, and that has to be worked through. And that takes time, and the health authority will certainly dedicate resources to that now that we've made this commitment."