Bedford South is a fast-growing area with new residents arriving every day. While this is great news for our community, it is extremely important that all our residents have access to primary care. While it has taken longer than expected, I am happy to finally be able to report that all Nova Scotians on the Need a Family Practice Registry can now access Virtual Care NS.
Virtual Care Nova Scotia (VirtualCareNS) provides free, online medical appointments.
The service launched as a pilot in May 2021. Since then, more than 21,000 virtual appointments have taken place. Nova Scotians have received care and advice for mental health concerns, prescription renewals, skin problems, infections, minor injuries, joint pain and other issues.
Patients whose health concerns cannot be resolved virtually will be provided with options for in-person care.
While there are only about 150 to 200 virtual appointments available each weekday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and on Monday evenings until 7 p.m. It is my hope that residents here in Bedford South and all Nova Scotians will see greater access as the need requires and rest assured that I will continue to advocate for expanded access to primary care.
To use VirtualCareNS, people must live in Nova Scotia, be without a primary care provider, and be on the Need a Family Practice Registry. To get on the registry, you can call 811 or visit: https://needafamilypractice.nshealth.ca/
Once on the registry, people can visit https://virtualcarens.ca and use their Nova Scotia health card to get a virtual appointment.