The official opposition is urging the Houston government to upgrade health facilities in the province and have written a letter to the health minister.
In a news release, the NDP said MLA Kendra Coombes and Health Critic Rod Wilson wrote the letter after a doctor at the New Waterford Consolidated Hospital said he was reaching a “breaking point” and might leave the community if construction on a health facility promised eight years ago, doesn’t begin.
“Healthcare workers are doing everything they can for their parents, but they’re being asked to work in deteriorating facilities with no answers about when things will get better,” said Coombes.
Coombes said it seems like the government does not have a plan.
“These delays are costing Cape Bretoners and Nova Scotians, and now we’re at risk of losing the healthcare workers our communities depend on.”
The NDP said they have been raising the alarm about the state of hospitals in Nova Scotia for a long time, including the Cobequid Community Health Centre in Sackville.
Adding inpatient beds in that facility was part of a government announcement in 2022.
But after patients spent days in an overcrowded emergency department last fall, the NDP called on the government for answers on that expected expansion.
At that time, Thompson said there were a lot of moving parts, pressure on the system and the number of inpatient beds coming was unclear but they were committed to creating services and care in the central zone.
“The Houston government was elected five years ago on a promise to fix health care,” said Wilson. “But they still don’t have a clear plan for hospitals and emergency care. Now, Nova Scotians are paying the price.”
