Andrew Heighton, the Nova Scotia Health Director of Integrated Rural Health Services for the
eastern zone, said it’s accurate to say we’re seeing an increase in unscheduled emergency department closures in rural communities across Nova Scotia over the past few years.
Overall, he said, the goal is to keep the departments open but the scheduling for the departments is fluid depending on staffing for nursing and physicians. He said there is no real pinpoint to what is causing the increase overall, however it is mostly related to human resource recruitment and retention issues. Heighton said there is lots of engagement with local councils to look at different models of care and where they can support each other with recruitment.
He said the summer is always more challenging with more demand for vacations so his office is working with facilities and staff to make sure the staff do get some well deserved time off to rejuvenate before the upcoming fall and winter.
Heighton noted primary health care is the backbone of the system, adding they hope to see the use of emergency departments go down one they are able to increase access to primary care.