N.S. premier noncommittal on progress he’ll make in 2022 to fix health system

In an end of year interview, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said people should begin to notice differences in the health care system in 2022, but is vague on specifics.

Tim Houston, one of Canada’s newest premiers, says the job is much more than it appears to be from the outside.

After eight years on the opposition benches – including three years as party leader-  Houston is now four months into his tenure as premier of Nova Scotia, after leading the Progressive Conservatives to a decisive majority win in last summer’s election.

In a recent end-of-year interview, he reflected on his new role and on the big challenges he’ll have to tackle in 2022.

“It’s really hard to prepare yourself for the number of issues that exist in the province at any one time,” Houston said.

“There’s just a lot going on.”

Like other leaders across Canada, the most pressing concern for Houston is managing the COVID-19 pandemic, including the recent sharp rise in cases driven by the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. But there is a series of other issues on Houston’s mind: the environment, the controversial clear-cutting of the province’s forests, the shortage of affordable housing, and the Tories’ campaign promise to transform the health-care system.

The Tories came to power mainly because of their campaign’s singular focus of fixing the problems in health care, including the lack of long-term care beds for seniors, the delays resulting from overcrowded hospital emergency rooms, and the shortage of health-care professionals, such as nurses.

Houston said Nova Scotians should begin to see some progress in 2022 regarding access to primary care. The government will link more patients to virtual care providers and recruit and retain more family doctors, he said. As of Dec. 1, more than 82,000 Nova Scotians were on a wait list for a family doctor.