The new doctor in town won’t be in town much longer.
Town of Hantsport CAO Rob Frost issued a press release Dec. 20 to announce Dr. Yuri Canete will not renew his contract with the Hantsport Collaborative Practice once it expires in March.
In the release, Frost says Canete wishes to “pursue other opportunities.”
It took more than a year of recruiting by former Mayor Wayne Folker, staff with the Capital District Health Authority, Hants West MLA Chuck Porter and representatives of Cochrane’s Pharmasave in Hantsport to find a physician willing to consider a long-term placement at the practice.
Mayor Rob Zwicker said the search for a new doctor will begin immediately.
“We are committed to getting the team working on this right away, and I know that town staff has already started the process of working with CDHA to contact potential candidates again,” he said, in a prepared statement included in the Town of Hantsport’s press release.
Dr. Iona Wile left the practice in August 2011. Nurse practitioner Dawn Lowe single-handedly managed the 2,500 patient workload for months until an emergency doctor serving patients in Halifax and Windsor saw clients at the clinic in Hantsport for a short time last spring.
Canete, who moved to Falmouth from Newfoundland, has been working at the practice since Sept. 10, 2012.
As part of an incentive to keep Canete in town, the outgoing town council agreed to cover Canete’s full rent at the Hantsport Collaborative Practice for the first six months of his contract, and pay half of the rent for Canete’s second six-month term. It was estimated it would cost the Town of Hantsport about $9,800. A portion of the grant money was to be used to purchase new equipment for the practice.
~ Updated last paragraph Jan. 8
