Key takeaways:
- The emergency unit at Soldiers Memorial Hospital shut down for two weeks, and staff redeployed.
- The emergency unit at Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Middleton will be shut for the next two weeks so staff can be redeployed to nearby Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville.
The emergency branch at Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Middleton, N.S., will be shut for the next two weeks. The provincial hospitals in Kentville and Bridgewater will only be critical and emergency surgical services starting today.
The changes will stay in place for the following two weeks as the sites wrestle with the constant strain induced by COVID-19.
“Western Zone facilities are extremely overcapacity with risen inpatient COVID demand associated with staffing needs,” reads a message from Nova Scotia Health.
“To help the Western Zone COVID answer, trained emergency department team from Soldiers Memorial Hospital will be temporarily reassigned to Valley Regional Hospital emergency department. We acknowledge the problems this change may cause. However, our emphasis must be to maintain our regional emergency department.”
Read more: Sixty years of data reveal more hot days, less snowy days
COVID rates stay high
Nova Scotia persists in seeing high rates of COVID-19 across the region.
The latest epidemiological data released on Thursday shows the region averaging almost two demises a day and nearly 1,000 positive PCR tests.
The information from Public Health does not have data related to fast antigen tests, which several experts believe could significantly increase the everyday case count. The region’s deputy chief medical officer of health stated Thursday that numbers could be stabilizing.
In an email, a representative for the health authority said that surgical services across the region are being closely controlled, with capacity developed or decreased depending on demands and staff being redeployed to the regions with the greatest need.
Source – cbc.ca
