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Sorry I didn’t get this posted earlier…Andy

Bring Snider back

Will the health minister please explain why she is wasting taxpayers’ money on interim and sporadic health care for the people of Digby Neck and Islands?

 There is an excellent nurse practitioner in the person of Karen Snider ready to resume her full-time duties on Long Island. She is well-respected and trusted by the people. She served a year and proved herself dedicated and more than competent. Yet she was let go for reasons that remain confidential, according to her employer, the South West District health authority.

 Now, while SWDHA searches vainly for a replacement for this remote area, taxpayers are incurring travelling and ferry fees for other nurses and doctors to drive down Digby Neck to Freeport. These are doctors and nurses taken from their positions in other parts of the province, plus money, time, fuel, and carbon emissions. The drive from Digby to Freeport, including the ferry, is an hour if you hit the ferry at the right time.

 What a wasteful, inefficient system! Karen has a newly built house in Freeport — part of a commitment she made to spend the rest of her career there. No other nurse has come close to that.

 Since October, the people have been writing letters pleading with Health Minister Maureen MacDonald to resolve the differences between Karen and SWDHA and reinstate her. They have repeatedly asked her to meet with them and to talk to Karen. They have presented proposals of alternative employment arrangements, all to no avail. The minister has left 1,500 taxpaying citizens without adequate health care in favour of a few bureaucrats. What is going on?

 I once had hope for the NDP. I thought they were for the people. My hope is gone.

 Sharon G. Palermo, Halifax

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