Halifax woman facing years-long wait for gynecologist calls for better access to health care

A Halifax woman who lives with fibroids, cysts and adenomyosis shared her struggle and potential five-year wait to see a gynecologist with reporters on Wednesday, as the Opposition called for action to address health care wait times in the province.

Haley Smith, 36, said she shouldn’t have to fight just to receive care.

“For the past 131 days, I’ve been feeling lost, alone, unheard, and frustrated,” she said.

“For 131 days, I have been experiencing prolonged bleeding while being told that what I’m going through is somehow normal.”

Smith says her dream is to become a mother, but the lengthy wait time to see a specialist has her concerned about the possibility.

“Being referred to a gynecologist and then being told I have to wait four to five years is heartbreaking, especially when I’m already worried about fertility and my future,” she said.

“I’m sharing my story because I know I’m not the only woman experiencing this. Women deserve to be listened to. We deserve timely care.”

Smith spoke at a news conference organized by the NDP, which said it is forcing debate on three pieces of legislation aimed at improving health care. NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the province should have a way to measure progress for all aspects of health care.

“I believe that all women in this province are experiencing unnecessarily long and dangerous wait times. How to fix that? Well, that’s the question. And what we want is transparency. And we want to be able to measure progress,” she said.

“How long should it take? How are we going to get to that point?”

Meanwhile, the group Women’s Access to Care & Health (WATCH), organized a march to Province House Wednesday to amplify their message to the government.

Independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, who represents Cumberland North and is also a member of WATCH, tabled a bill Wednesday to improve women’s health outcomes.

“The reality is that our bodies as women are different than men’s, and they deserve the same adequate attention,” she said in the legislature.

“Madam Speaker, if a man had a cancerous lesion on his penis, he would not have to wait four years for it to be removed. A woman can have a cancerous mass on her labia, be given a four-year wait for a gynecologist, and she’s dead long before she is seen.”

In a statement, Nova Scotia Health (NSH) said the province has been improving access to gynecological and pelvic care — highlighting the Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic, which recently “progressed from a pilot clinic into a recognized research clinic.”

“Thirteen full-time equivalent positions have been recruited for gynecological services — the resources flow between general gynecology and the Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic,” NSH wrote in a statement.

As well, the Department of Health unveiled new initiatives on Monday aimed at improving women’s health care, including efforts to reduce breast cancer screening wait times.

Health Minister Michelle Thompson also provided an update on the new Menopause Centre of Excellence — a clinic poised to open in the Halifax neighbourhood of Spryfield this winter.

The clinic will offer in-person and virtual care, and will be staffed by a gynecologist, pelvic floor physiotherapist, registered nurse and general practitioner.

All this has WATCH member Cairista MacIsaac hopeful, but still waiting.

“We are grateful about the announcement, we are happy they are finally acknowledging the issue. We’re here to make sure no woman in the province is being left behind when it comes to their care,” she said.