Palliative Care Physician - Sydney

Date: Mar 7, 2024

Location: Sydney, NS, CA, B1L 1A5

Company: Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health

Requisition ID: 145888 

Opportunity Type: Permanent 

Estimated Annual Salary: 250,000 - 300,000 

Type of Remuneration: APP- Alternative Payment Plan 

Site Visit & Reallocation Allowance Programs: Relocation Program; Site Visit Program 

For information and to determine eligibility for Department of Health and Wellness Incentives, please contact Physician.Resources@novascotia.ca

About This Opportunity

The Cape Breton County palliative care service is seeking a physician to join their team! Full-time and part-time opportunities are available. As a member of the palliative care service, you will work collaboratively with a great team of comprehensive healthcare providers.  
 Acute Care: Palliative care physicians offer consultative services at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital (the main acute care hospital), including the An Cala Unit (Gaelic for “safe harbour”), a beautiful nine-bed inpatient palliative care unit for patients requiring acute pain and symptom management or end-of life care. This unit is staffed with specialized palliative care nurses. Physicians also offer consultative services at three outlying hospitals within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) - the Glace Bay, New Waterford Consolidated and North Sydney General Hospitals, and within the Cape Breton Cancer Centre (CBCC). A Hospital Consult nurse aids in triaging all inpatient consults and assessing patients within the four hospitals.

Community Care: The palliative care team includes a robust home consultation program with four-five specialized palliative care home consult nurses providing direct in-home care, or care to patients in long-term care facilities within the CBRM. Physicians provide consultative services for patients in the community program along with the nurses. One of our physicians also provides consultative services in the rural areas of Cape Breton County. 

Hospice Care: Minutes away from the CBRH is a brand-new, 10 bed Hospice which opened its doors in March of 2022 and where the palliative care physicians play the role of most responsible physician.  The Hospice features beautiful gardens, welcoming rooms for patients and families, and state of the art equipment. A community intake nurse triages all community and Hospice referrals and assists with Hospice admissions.  

Ambulatory Care: Up until March 2022, the palliative care service had a palliative care specialized Nurse Practitioner (NP) running an ambulatory palliative care clinic with the help of a specialized palliative care nurse. This clinic served mostly patients with a cancer diagnosis receiving care at the CBCC. This NP is temporarily in a pilot position and the palliative care ambulatory clinic has not been in operation since. There are plans to reinstate this clinic upon the return or the recruitment of another NP or if physician resources allow. 

Multidisciplinary Team: The palliative care team also includes a palliative care clinical nurse educator, two social workers, two bereavement counselors, a spiritual care adviser, a music therapist, an occupational therapist, a dedicated pharmacist, a volunteer coordinator, and many volunteers. The palliative care team also works very closely with the Hospice Society of Cape Breton County.

Teaching and Research: There are opportunities for teaching available with academic appointment through Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine. There is a Family Medicine Residency Program on site in Cape Breton through the Dalhousie Medical School and all PGY2 residents must do a core rotation in Palliative Care as part of their training. Medical students from any medical school nation-wide and world-wide may come to Sydney for electives in Palliative Care. Cape Breton University (CBU) recently launched a campaign for the creation of a new medical school with its own faculty of medicine. Research opportunities are also available. 

Responsibilities

  • Duties include full scope of practice as a palliative care physician providing care to patients within the Eastern Zone – Cape Breton County
  • The physician will be responsible to the Zone Department Head for their professional responsibilities and quality of practice and will operate within the Medical Staff Bylaws of the Nova Scotia Health Authority
  • Admitting privileges within the Cape Breton Regional Hospital  
  • Share in provision of on-call overage (call stipend provided)

Qualifications

Community Details

Failte (that is “welcome,” in Gaelic) to the beautiful island of Cape Breton! Cape Breton is voted the #1 island destination in continental US and Canada and the #3 island in the world! It is rich in Mi’kmaq, Acadian, and Celtic culture. Sydney is the historic capital of Cape Breton and the largest urban centre on the island. From the harbourfront boardwalk complete with buskers and visiting cruise ships to the world’s largest fiddle, Sydney will be sure to charm you! 

Sydney is in convenient proximity to all the major attractions on the Island including the world famous Cabot Trail and Cape Breton Highlands National Park. There are breathtaking landscapes to explore, hiking trails for all levels, a multitude of sandy beaches and eight amazing golf courses including Cabot Cliffs in Inverness, the top rated international golf course!
                                                                                                                                                        

Here you will find an island of magnificent natural beauty with a modern flare. We have a full array of shops, restaurants, services, entertainment and amenities. Music is a large part of the Scottish cultural background in Cape Breton and kitchen parties are a way of life! You will experience the view of a lifetime around every corner and surround yourself with the friendliest people in every community. Hike, cycle, swim, golf – all in an almost unreal beauty. 


A bit more about the Cape Breton Regional Health Care facility: 

Cape Breton Regional Hospital (CBRH): The CBRH is the second largest acute care facility in Nova Scotia that serves more than 200,000 patients a year. It is part of a four-hospital complex that also includes the Glace Bay, New Waterford Consolidated, and Northside General Hospitals. The CBRH has 162 acute care beds, 36 emergency beds, 23 intermediate and critical care beds, 40 maternal child beds, 52 mental health and addiction beds, and nine palliative care beds. The hospital provides a range of primary and secondary services through in-patient, outpatient, and community-based programs.  
Cape Breton Cancer Centre (CBCC): The CBCC is the only other cancer centre in the province aside from the QEII Cancer Centre in Halifax. It is located at the CBRH in Sydney.  It provides a full range of cancer programs and services and serves patients across the entire Eastern Zone. The Centre sees more than 45,000 patient visits each year. 
 Health Care Redevelopment in Sydney: As part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Health Care Redevelopment, construction is already underway with a major expansion of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital. This will create new expanded emergency and critical care departments and a new stand-alone Cape Breton Cancer Centre. There will be new surgical suites, a new Cardiac Catheterization Lab, and 72 new inpatient beds.  Construction is expected to take two years.
 

Physicians in Nova Scotia provide fulfilling patient care which embraces family life, professional development and community involvement. That's what makes practicing medicine in Nova Scotia unique. Physicians are increasingly attracted to practices that offer team-based care to their patients and allow them to consult with their peers. The size and scale of Nova Scotia allows for better connections across the health care system. Your practice of medicine and your life is richer here. Nova Scotia is more than medicine. 

 

Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) is committed to being a workforce that is free of discrimination, values diversity and is representative, at all job levels, of the people we serve. Our priority groups are Aboriginal People, African Nova Scotians, Persons with Disabilities and Recent Immigrants. Members of these groups are welcome to apply and self-identify if they wish to be considered under our Employment Equity policy.


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