Halifax hospital work could mean more patients for Cape Breton

If construction of a replacement for the Centennial building at the Victoria General Hospital site goes ahead, it could mean patients normally seeking some services there could be temporarily directed elsewhere in the province, including Cape Breton.

There has been a series of floods and other issues at the building which have prompted renewed discussions of how to plan for replacing the aging building. Some procedures have already been redirected to other facilities on the mainland.

In a recent scrum and conference call with reporters, Premier Stephen McNeil said his government has made a commitment that it will move forward to develop a new Victoria General.

People in the Halifax area are already accessing some services in centres outside of the provincial capital, McNeil noted.

“If you’re a citizen in Halifax and you can get an MRI faster in Yarmouth, you’re going to Yarmouth,” he said. “Citizens are ahead of us. What Nova Scotians are looking for is timely access to quality health care … people move around, this is a very mobile province today, orthopedics in Pictou, for example, people are leaving the city today to do that.”

McNeil said they have to utilize the infrastructure available in the province to its full potential.

In an email, Nova Scotia Health Authority spokesperson Greg Boone said that healthcare providers in Cape Breton often see and treat patients from different areas of the province for various reasons and will continue to help wherever they can.

“While it is too early to predict what will actually happen when the redesign begins in Halifax, it is possible we would see some patients come this way when the work is underway,” Boone wrote. “It would be among options to look at to ensure people continue to get appropriate care.”

The province is hoping to get federal infrastructure dollars to support building the new hospital in Halifax, although early indications were that the project doesn’t qualify for the funding.

Boone noted the health authority doesn’t intend to simply build a replacement for an outof-date facility that wouldn’t meet the needs of modern care and won’t serve the population into the future.

In order to deliver the appropriate care at the appropriate time by the appropriate care provider, Boone wrote that it will mean offering some care in different settings and locations than has been the case in the past, in more appropriate spaces for providers and patients.

“Certain highly specialized services must be offered at the QEII due to the required people, equipment and other supports located there, but all of our planning looks at the full scope of provincial need and assets,” he said.

The expansion of inpatient and surgical capacity at Dart- mouth General Hospital — with four additional operating rooms and 48 additional beds, which is now in the detailed design phase — will accommodate some other surgeries and inpatient care currently provided at the Victoria General, Boone said.

Boone said the health authority is working with the departments of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, Finance, and Health and Wellness, adding the authority’s role “is to identify the health needs of Nova Scotians, requirements for provision of safe, high-quality care and appropriate standards for facilities to inform infrastructure planning.”