A rural Cape Breton doctor is leaving the province to work in P.E.I. due to concerns over the sustainability of the healthcare system, an overloaded work schedule and a busy ER. Dr. Emily Beaton, who is originally from N.B., says that ER closures in North Sydney mean many patients from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality are travelling to Baddeck's Victoria County Regional Hospital for care instead of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney. She said working 80-hour weeks, running a family practice, caring for hospital patients and residents at a local long-term care facility and rotating 24-hour shifts in the ER with three other doctors has led to lack of work-life balance. She believes the overarching issue for her departure was her concern over the sustainability of the healthcare system in Cape Breton and how it can affect patient safety.
NBHC Sustainability