Notice of Practice Closure - Dr Lorne Marsh

  • Closure of Dr Marsh's clinic

    It was with great sadness that Dr Lorne Marsh closed his clinic on the 24th January 2022 due to unexpected terminal illness. He has served thousands of patients in Nova Scotia for decades and will be remembered for his dedication to patients, excellent clinical care and compassion. Dr Marsh wrote a personal final message which you can read if you scroll down. To read personal farewell messages left by patients and friends in his memory, please click here.

  • Join the 811 List

    We regret to inform you that we are unable to continue to provide ongoing clinical care at Novas Medical to Dr Marsh’s patients as our remaining physicians already have their own full practice lists. We strongly advise his patients to call 811 and add their name to the 'Need a Family Physician' register, unless they have already found an alternative primary care provider. For further information on this service, please click here.

  • Collect your medical records

    You will be able to collect your medical records from Novas Medical for a small fee to cover administrative costs. If you do not collect your records they will then be automatically forwarded to DOCUdavit medical storage solutions. There will a significant fee to obtain your records from DOCUdavit so we strongly advise you to collect your records from us as soon as possible.

  • Outstanding Results and letters

    We have reviewed Dr Marsh's outstanding medical results and correspondence from Specialists. Unfortunately our physicians do not have the clinical capacity to provide follow-up care for any outstanding tasks. We may send you a copy of test results or medical correspondence if further clinical care is needed. If you receive a letter from us, please arrange a follow-up appointment with a walk-in centre, your new provider or your specialist to discuss any issues raised in the document attached and take a copy of the letter with you to the appt. If you don’t hear from us and think there are outstanding results that you need to access, please contact us.

  • For your urgent clinical needs

    For patients with urgent clinical needs, we would advise you attend ER for medical emergencies or book appointments at your nearest Walk-in centres. Groups like Family Focus host a range of walk in clinics across the HRM and for more details on other walk-in centre facilities, please click here.

  • Inform your specialists

    Please be aware that we have now stopped receiving any further correspondence or results for Dr Marsh’s patients. It is very important that you inform your ER physician, walk-in centre provider or specialists not to direct results or mail to Dr Marsh as it will not be actioned and will returned to them without review. If you have do have any tests, please advise the lab that Dr Marsh is no longer your family doctor so they can guide you where to seek further care.

PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM DR MARSH

To My Patients

I have recently received a serious diagnosis which has made it impossible to guarantee ongoing care for you, my patients. It has also resulted in an unplanned, immediate closure of my family practice. This has been a very disappointing and emotional event for me.

More concerning is the difficult, and in many cases precarious, situation in which it leaves my patients. The diagnosis was sudden and unexpected and requires my immediate attention to medical and personal matters. This means you, my patients, have had no time to prepare for this untimely and troublesome event.

Prior to my knowing about the diagnosis, I along with other doctors had taken steps to acquire new doctors at Novas Medical Clinic, but it appears the Nova Scotia Health Authority has significant difficulties in the area of physician resources.

Due to the ever-changing demands of modern medicine and demands on family physician resources, we have been unable to find alternate care for most patients either in the form of a replacement or a referral. The doctors at Novas Medical are at or over capacity.

We have no one to whom we can refer you. I know this increases your concern for ongoing care.

We are trying our best to mitigate the impact of this unforeseen event, but those measures will be less than ideal.

I so understand the plight of many of you.

You should put your name on the 811 patient registry for patients without a family doctor if you haven't or cannot find a family doctor.

You may be wondering about your results and charts. The doctors at Novas Medical have been dealing with lab, imaging (Xrays, CTs), and specialist reports that require immediate review and notifying patients, but reports that are pending or in the future will not be reviewed at Novas Medical Clinic, and you will have to contact the specialist who has done the assessment or request your report from the hospital and make an appointment with a walk-in clinic for direction. The emergency department is not the appropriate place for routine medical assessment or for follow-up medical care but if you have concerning symptoms or concern that you feel requires emergency review then you will have to make that decision, but you should consider a walk-in clinic for an opinion if not acutely ill.

A copy of your medical records can be obtained from Novas Medical Clinic by phoning or writing with a request. Your medical record will be provided to you on a small digital device called a thumb drive ("USB stick"), that is, a little gizmo that can be read by a computer. Ask the receptionist at Novas Medical for clarification if required. There is a fee for this service of $50 per chart or $100 per enclosed family (parents and children 19 years or under, living in the same household and at the full-time attendance of school or university) and flexibility for financial hardship. Again, please ask for clarification from the receptionist.

I want to thank my patients for the privilege of being involved in their medical care.

My patients are my heroes. I have learned so much from every patient and have witnessed your incredible resourcefulness, ingenuity, and bravery in the face of significant challenges. I have empathised with my patients' suffering, including physical, emotional, and issues involving social and economic concerns. I will hold my patients up as models and try to emulate their amazing character, resilience and bravery in my own journey.

I am saddened that I will not personally see or speak with so many patients who have shared their stories, bravery, and trust in me. It has been humbling, stressful, and rewarding to be your family doctor and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to apply my love of science and desire to help reduce suffering and to improve the lives of individuals and the community through the practice of medicine.

My best wishes to each and every one of you.

I hope I can proceed with the same courage and determination that you have taught me.

Thank you for that final gift.

With gratitude, Dr Lorne Marsh