Nova Scotia Buzz
A Freedom of Information request received by Nova Scotia’s NDP Caucus shows that there were 169 Emergency Room closures in the first month of the Conservative government and a further 174 planned closures scheduled through the end of October.
“Emergency rooms around the province are in crisis. Far too many people in our province have to drive several communities over to find an ER that is open, and others are forced to wait for 12 hours or more to receive care,” said NDP Leader Gary Burrill.
“I believe Tim Houston when he says he understands there is a problem. But that is not what’s at issue. At issue is what the government is going to do about it.”
According to the NDP, of the 343 closures anticipated by the end of October, 105 are due to nursing shortages, 2 are due to paramedic shortages, and 236 are due to physician shortages
“Many people are aware of the shortage of physicians and the challenges with recruiting them, but now the nursing shortage is driving almost one third of all emergency room closures in Nova Scotia,” said Susan Leblanc, NDP Health and Wellness spokesperson.
The NDP says our province is doing little to try and get them to get nursing students to stay in Nova Scotia, while they received job offers from across the country. They also encourage the government to return to the Collaborative Emergency Centre model that was put in place by the previous NDP government that reduced emergency room closures.
Premier Tim Houston will be making a healthcare announcement today, October 25, at 1:30pm at the Northside General Hospital in North Sydney.
