New medical school 'definitely' of interest to N.S. premier

Officials at Cape Breton University appear to be exploring the potential of establishing Nova Scotia's second medical school.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday following a cabinet meeting, Premier Tim Houston said he's been hearing discussion about the subject from "a number of medical personnel" in Cape Breton.

"It's definitely something I'd be interested in," he said."Training more and more health-care professionals in this province is something that I think is important to the long-term security of our health-care system."

Dalhousie University currently operates Nova Scotia's only medical school. Last March, the provincial government announced $5 million for a "strategic health initiative" at CBU. It comes at the sametime a major redevelopment is happening at Cape Breton Regional Hospital.

Last week, the province announced that Dr. Kevin Orrell, a former deputy health minister, left his post as CEO of the province's Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment at the beginning of September to become a special adviser to Cape Breton University president David Dingwall.

The recruitment office is now being led by Nova Scotia Health's vice-president of medicine, Dr. Nicole Boutilier, and Craig Beaton, the Health Department's associate deputy minister.

Questions about Orrell's job status started swirling in the summer. At the time, Houston and Health Minister Michelle Thompson would not discuss the situation.

Houston said on Thursday that details about Orrell's job needed to be finalized before the government was in a position to comment publicly.

"You want to make sure that things are kind of final and formal before you start talking about somebody's career."

'More seats means more access'

The premier couldn't say how the discussion started for Orrell to take the job at CBU, but he said the former surgeon remains an active part of the province's health leadership team.

"I think CBU will benefit from Dr. Orrell's wisdom, for sure, and we as a province will continue to benefit from that," Houston said, later adding that he's "pleased with how things worked out."

A spokesperson for Cape Breton University could not immediately be reached for comment.

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill, a former health minister, said more competition in Nova Scotia's medical education sector would be helpful.

"More seats means more access and it also means there is not a monopoly on who can choose people who are going to be able to pursue medicine," he told reporters.

NDP House leader Sue Leblanc said the more training of medical professionals that can happen in the province, the better.

Last May, CBU and Dalhousie announced a partnership to create five medical school seats for people from rural Nova Scotia who are committed to practising family medicine in a rural community.

Leblanc said people tend to stay where they train, especially when they're able to do it close to home.

"I welcome that idea. It would be great to have a focus on primary care and family practice, but we'll see what happens."

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