Dr. Emma Leon, Dalhousie Family Medicine Resident; Ray Doucette, Chair, Coastal Financial Credit Union; and Kerry Muise, President, Yarmouth & Area Chamber of Commerce cutting the ribbon during the official grand opening of the new residence for medical residents, students and locum physicians. (Photo by Tina Comeau, Saltwire Network)

By Fraser Mooney

Every house needs a solid foundation and strong supports. This idea was demonstrated in Yarmouth on November 4, 2021, when a visionary group of organizations and individuals gathered to officially open a brand-new home for medical residents, medical learners and visiting physicians.

The grand opening of the new home has been described as a “true community effort,” by just about everyone involved, and the list of partners is a long one, including local municipal units, businesses and community organizations.

The vision for the housing project first started to come into focus shortly after Rebecca Rose jumped into the new position of community navigator.

In 2019, the Yarmouth and Area Chamber of Commerce received funding from the provincial government to create the Community Navigator role to work with the Nova Scotia Health recruitment team to recruit and retain physicians.

This program has since expanded to other parts of the province.

Rose tackled the job of community navigator by first speaking with local physicians and Dalhousie Family Medicine Residents. She quickly learned that putting down roots in a new community is hard enough, but even more difficult when you can’t find a decent, affordable place to live.

This challenge struck a chord with Rick Doucette, CEO of Coastal Financial Credit Union, as the organization was looking for more meaningful ways to best to serve their community. Doucette met with the Chamber of Commerce several times about their physician recruitment efforts.

“I thought we would simply write them a cheque and throw money in the pot,” said Doucette. “But we learned that money was not the biggest challenge to recruitment, the biggest challenge was housing. Housing was a major obstacle.”

This thought was on Doucette’s mind one morning as he drove to work, passing by a large older brick house on Vancouver Street, just a few doors down from Yarmouth Regional Hospital. Coincidentally, the house had a for sale sign on the lawn.

“I thought wow. This would be an amazing place, in terms of location, it had everything,” he said.

Doucette went back to the board of directors of Coastal Financial Credit Union, and the organization arranged to purchase the property.

While the large house was attractive from the outside, it had plenty of problems just below the surface. After much consideration, it was decided it would be easier, and cheaper to tear down the old structure and start fresh. This created the opportunity to truly consider the wants and needs of medical learners in the final design.

A number of community partners were engaged, and the new house began to take shape.

The Yarmouth Hospital Foundation, accustomed to supporting the purchase of advanced medical equipment, eagerly jumped on board to buy those furnishings that make a house a home. Soon after its grand opening, the new house was fully occupied.

Kerry Muise, president of the Yarmouth and Area Chamber of Commerce, describes the involvement of Coastal Financial Credit Union as “a game changer,” and had high praise for all the partners involved.

“The community support was awesome,” said Muise. “There was a lot of thought and energy that went into this project from across the community.”

For Tracey Watkins-Allen, site leader of Yarmouth Regional Hospital, the new residence is more than just a house.

“It is a concrete example of how this community works together to welcome medical professionals,” she said. “Experience has taught us that we are more successful at recruitment and retention when many partners in the community are involved. We are thankful for the hard work of so many people and local organizations.”