The use of digital methods for providing healthcare to Nova Scotia residents has seen success in its first pilot programs.  With long waitlists for family doctors and wait times to see specialists reaching two to three years, virtual healthcare is becoming a tool to reduce the length it will take to receive medical assistance in the province. 

A Quebec-based chain of private medical clinics recently opened an office in Dartmouth, N.S., setting off alarm bells for local supporters of publicly funded medicine. Dr. Adam Hofmann, co-founder of Algomed, says he's a strong advocate for public health care, but says Canada's strained system can't meet the needs of citizens.

The president of Doctors Nova Scotia says she is cautiously optimistic about the future of health care in this province. The province's health care issues have been in the spotlight as it continues to deal with doctor shortages combined with an aging population. But Dr. Leisha Hawker told CityNews Halifax we do appear to be going in the right direction.

With staffing shortages, bed shortages, and hundreds of thousands of Maritimers without a family physician — health care in the region has likely never been in such a critical condition.

For 36 hours, Liz LeClair suffered through excruciating abdominal pain and vomiting in her home in Dartmouth, N.S., with no ambulance coming to help. Her ordeal is just one example of how Canada's health care system, hugely overburdened and struggling amid worker shortages, needs desperate attention, experts say.

Long wait times, closed emergency departments and growing waitlists for family doctors have exposed the pressures facing the health-care system this summer – specifically on emergency medicine.

It's expected all Nova Scotians will have access to VirtualCareNS by the end of August. Dr. Leisha Hawker, Doctors Nova Scotia shares why the program is essential. (Scroll to hour 3)