jameswales

Just arrived as a PR last week.

I've got a need to see a doctor, nothing too urgent, but something I should get checked out.

I've not yet registered for any kind of health service, so how should I go about finding and registering with a doctor?

dbd33

I haven't done that yet, I just go to a walk in clinic.

jameswales

Is it free?

dbd33

If you have a provincial healthcare card it's essentially free, there are some catches; the same as visiting a doctor with whom you're registered. But, yes, you need to go along to the provincial issuer of health care cards to get one first.

jameswales

Ah, that's the problem, I've not yet applied for a healthcare card.

dbd33

You can probably walk in and get one the same day, best to do that before being hit by any busses (if there are busses down there).

Tangram

Might be worthwhile in the future indicating which Province you are in or adding it to your profile.

Souvy

NS, I think.

spaceace

In which case you'll need one of these

http://www.gov.ns.ca/health/msi/

Silverdragon102

Definitely get sorted with your health-card, otherwise you pay. May also take time to find a doctor, been here over 2 years and had problems finding one, thankfully not required apart from one trip to ER for suspected broken wrist (no health-card at that time hence me knowing about paying although I felt it wasn't that expensive to what I was expecting)

kazbob

Hi, I've just got back from NS and had to go to a walk in clinic last week for a nasty insect bite. I haven't yet got my card as we are still living in the UK.

I paid 50 bucks before even getting past the receptionist. I would suggest getting your health card sorted asap, unless your ailment is urgent then get yourself down to a walk in clinic.

HTH

Karen

walker65

We registered with a doctors this week and they advised to let them know when our cards come through.
They did not mind that we was waiting for them, but my sister-in-law is registered with the same doctors, so not sure if that helped ??

I hope you manage to get the matter sorted.

Walker

nikki dreaming

You can go in and collect your card there and then , we went to the office on the burnside ind estate.

Hit and miss re doctors, we managed to get registered within a week or of arriving at our local ish one, but it can depend, as others have mentioned you can use walk in clinics in the short term, or long term!

Greenhill

Getting a family doc [quickly] depends a lot on where you live in NS.

Up here in this area of the north Shore the waiting list is somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 (last time I heard based on various quotes and opinions). This could be a real problem for anyone who really needs a family doctor.

As others have said, walk-in-clinics are available, as is ER (expect a long wait preceded by a possible interrogation, depending on the hospital) but you will need an MSI card for the free treatment or a wad of cash.

Cookie

In New Glasgow there have been a few doctors retiring within the last 12 months but the good news is that 3 new doctors plus another doctor will be returning from maternity leave within the next few months so thats great news for the area.

The Walk-in Clinic is open 5-9pm week days and 9-1pm Saturdays and stats so the ER is used as a daytime Walk-in Clinic, hence the long waits.