Patient stuck in Halifax ER for two weeks

We were quoted in a Chronicle Herald article about a patient who, due to a lack of longterm care beds, spent two weeks in an emergency room in Halifax

A long-term care patient who occupied an emergency department bed in a Halifax hospital for roughly two weeks “isn’t a new problem,” says Chris Parsons.

“There’s been no significant increase in the number of long-term care beds in the province in close to six or seven years,” said the provincial co-ordinator for the Nova Scotia Health Coalition.

There were no available beds in the hospital or other facilities for the patient to be moved to in the last two weeks of December, a reliable source told The Chronicle Herald.

“People aren’t able to access the care they need, either through primary care, long-term care or home care,” said Parsons in an interview on Friday.

More pressure will be put on emergency rooms as Nova Scotia’s aging population continues to grow, he said.

“You’ve got more people entering with dementia, people entering long-term care with significant physical disabilities, which all require more resources,” he said.

“We’re asking our long-term care system to do more with less and the end result is people end up falling back on emergency rooms,” said the provincial co-ordinator.

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