County Officials Offer Local Input in Health Decisions
The decision to cut emergency services in Springhill to bolster staff at the Cumberland Regional Hospital has led Nova Scotia Health authorities to commit to better communication and cooperation across the county.
The arbitrary decision caught local elected officials by surprise two weeks ago when news broke that the NSHA would transfer nurses from All Saints Hospital to work at the regional hospital in Amherst.
The MLA for Cumberland South had not been forewarned, nor had the county or town mayors. Councillors in Oxford and Cumberland Municipality were upset saying the health authority was simply kicking the problem up the road.
A large group, sixteen in all, met this week to review the issue and the way it was handled. Municipal officials from the Cumberland region, MLA Tory Rushton and his counterpart in Cumberland North, and a group of local health stakeholders, including those representing local hospital foundations, physician and non- physician recruitment committees, and senior staff of Nova Scotia Health gathered in Springhill.
Cumberland Mayor Murray Scott, Amherst Mayor David Kogon, Oxford Councillor Paul Jones, the MLAs, and the local stakeholders all expressed concerns and frustration with the present state of health care in the Cumberland region.
Nova Scotia Health officials provided the group with an update on the process that led to the temporary closure in Springhill. They committed to the future of All Saints Hospital and that emergency room services would be restored after the temporary reassignment of staff was complete.
They also committed to regular updates for the community.
The group committed to work together to support the recruitment and retention of staff and physicians to deliver programs and services at All Saints Hospital in Springhill, North Cumberland Hospital in Pugwash, South Cumberland Community Care Clinic in Parrsboro, Bayview Memorial Health Centre in Advocate, and Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Upper Nappan.
The move may be seen as a rebuke of the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s province-wide management of health care from Halifax, perhaps a first step in returning some decision making to local authorities.
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