This month we’ve seen several rounds of surgeries cancelled at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital (CBRH) because the ER is bursting at the seams.
The McNeil Liberals are in denial about the health-care crisis in Cape Breton. Premier Stephen McNeil acts as though there is something to celebrate while people are being treated in hallways and surgeries continue to be delayed.
The NDP has proposed solutions that would address the overcrowding at the Regional and keep community hospitals open in New Waterford and North Sydney.
We should be opening new nursing home spaces to free up hospital beds in the Regional that are currently occupied by patients needing long-term care.
By establishing Collaborative Emergency Centres at Northside General Hospital and the New Waterford Consolidated Hospital, we could keep emergency services in our communities and reduce the number of patients visiting the Regional.
We should allow physician assistants to practice in Nova Scotia, as is done in Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick. This would help ease doctors’ workloads, provide better access to primary care and help reduce pressure on the Regional.
These common sense solutions from the NDP have been ignored by the Liberals, and Cape Bretoners are paying the price.
Tammy Martin
MLA for Cape Breton Centre and NDP Spokesperson for Health and Wellness
