Patients tapping into alternative care options, but N.S. emergency departments still face challenges
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In an interview, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said she worries the situation could be made worse by people putting off going to an emergency department because they're concerned about a potentially long wait.
The provincial government announced plans a year ago to add more hospital beds to the system, including an additional 72 beds at the Halifax Infirmary. A year later, however, construction on that project has not started and the cabinet minister responsible for the file, Colton LeBlanc, cannot say when it will.
"For a government that says that they're full of action and that they're going to fix health care, I think that's really disappointing," said Chender.
While the government works to see construction projects through and expand bed capacity in the system, Chender said it should also focus on what researchers call social determinants of health. Factors linked to poor health include low income, unemployment, limited education and discrimination. Ensuring people have what they need to remain healthy would help reduce the chance they'll need the health-care system, she said.”