N.S. asked health-care workers for ideas to fix the system. Here are some the public didn't get to see

Free tuition for doctors. Public exercise programs. Bringing in the military. 

These were just a few of the 2,200 ideas submitted by health-care workers who entered the provincial government's contest last fall seeking quick, easy, and low-cost ideas to improve the Nova Scotian health-care system. 

For a month, they were invited to submit an idea that would be entered in a draw for 50 prizes of $1,000. A review panel selected 20 finalists from the submissions, and that list was then winnowed down to 10 winners by public vote.

Using an access to information request, CBC News obtained the text of all the contest entries and examined some of the ideas that didn't make the government's list of finalists.

Many of the submissions weren't quick or inexpensive, but their proponents argued they could be powerful tools to improve the system. 

Some entries suggested adding amenities like free parking, more plants, clean drinking water stations, warm blankets, privacy screens, or healthier food options to health-care facilities.

Others called for changes to the way doctors, nurses, pharmacists or other health professionals are licensed and trained, or to their scope of practice. 

Some staff were upset by the contest.

"There is no quick fix here," one person wrote. "Fund health care. It's what this government campaigned on. Keep your promises." 

Debbie Morris, who's been a registered nurse in Nova Scotia for 34 years, said she and her colleagues didn't take the contest seriously when they first heard about it. 

"Our thought was, 'Oh my God, they're offering a $1,000 contest for people's opinions on remedies for health care,'" she said. "And we're like, 'the government doesn't know what they're doing.'"

Morris didn't enter an idea, but some people who entered the contest were pleased to be asked for their input. 

One wrote the contest was "the first time in a long time I've felt that I have any ability to contribute towards improving things." 

Some submissions weren't serious at all.