Construction Completed on New Building for Kentville Family Medicine Residents

Kentville is now home to a new facility to train family medicine residents.

Construction of a new building, located next to Valley Regional Hospital, is complete. It represents an investment of $1.47 million and will train 10 residents each year.

“Nova Scotia’s family medicine residency program is critical to training family doctors and to our recruitment efforts,” said Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson. “If they have a positive experience and train in a high-quality facility, it increases the chance that they’ll want to stay and practice family medicine in Nova Scotia.”

Six hospitals are receiving upgrades to accommodate additional spaces for family medicine residents. The remaining projects are in New Glasgow, Truro, Amherst, Antigonish and Inverness. Work is ongoing or complete at each location and ranges from renovating or creating space for training, adding a room for residents to stay when they are on call and new furniture or technology. The Valley Regional Hospital site was the only location that required construction of a new building.

The building is expected to officially open in January, pending COVID-19 precautions allow workers to complete final touches on construction.

Quotes:

“We know that an effective way to recruit family doctors is by retaining the talent we are training right here in Nova Scotia. If we train residents locally, involve them in local communities so that they form connections and relationships, then they are more likely to stay in those supportive environments. This infrastructure supports a sustainable training program and reflects our commitment to family medicine education.”

– Dr. Kevin Orrell, Deputy Minister/CEO, Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment

“This new building is the physical representation for the ‘home’ of family medicine training here in the Annapolis Valley. It represents the commitment and dedication of family medicine physicians and preceptors, Dalhousie University Department of Family Medicine, Nova Scotia Health and Department of Health and Wellness to the training of competent family medicine physicians who can provide care for Nova Scotians in all communities throughout Nova Scotia.”

– Dr. Roop Conyers, Nova Scotia Health Authority Site Director, Dalhousie University, Family Medicine, Annapolis Valley Site

“The investment by government and community partners to construct a new training facility in Kentville compliments the excellent medical education our family medicine residents receive at our Annapolis Valley site. Thank you to all involved for their strong support and in particular, our colleagues at Nova Scotia Health.”

– Dr. David Anderson, Dean, Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine

Quick Facts:

• residents spend two years in a family practice where they follow patients and gain skills and experience in areas like maternal care, mental health and senior care
• the residency training program is an effective recruitment tool; for example, 31 of 38 residents who trained at the Annapolis Valley site (2014-21) stayed to practice in the same or similar communities
• family medicine training sites are located in North Nova (Truro, Amherst, New Glasgow), Cape Breton (Sydney and Inverness), Annapolis Valley, South West Nova (Yarmouth) and Halifax
• residency training is a joint effort of the Department of Health and Wellness, Dalhousie Medical School, and Nova Scotia Health