Health Care Centre Opens in Pugwash
Premier Tim Houston joined a boisterous crowd of local officials and health care providers for the ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of the new North Cumberland Health Care Centre today.
The Premier said, “This is an exciting day for the people of Cumberland County. This new state-of-the-art healthcare facility will deliver improved, more efficient and co-ordinated care and better meet the needs of this region for years to come.”
While politicians stumble over each other trying to take credit for the new hospital, Dr. Peter Blaikie put the occasion in perspective when he noted that numerous premiers, over a thirty year period, had all committed to a new facility. He said that he met Premier Houston at a health care gathering in Truro about four years ago. It was there that the Premier said that he came to listen, and according to Blaikie, he came early and stayed late, and listen he did.
Blaikie said Houston’s honesty and concern was very refreshing then, and he thanked the Premier for delivering the new hospital, as he said he would.
There was a common refrain from each of the speakers, saying it was a long, long wait. Blaikie noted that in his 32 years in local practice, this day marks a bright, new beginning for health care in the region.
The new centre offers all the services currently provided at the North Cumberland Memorial Hospital and the North Cumberland Primary Healthcare Clinic. The integration of these services, under one roof, offers a continuity that will pay huge dividends in patient care for the next number of decades.
The bright and spacious facilities stand in stark contrast to the former community hospital.
The technical efficiency, though unseen, will ensure on-going comfort and cost effective operation. One example is the geo-thermal heating system drawing from more than thirty deep, drilled wells under the property.
The communications room is no longer the central point for the telephone system. Instead miles and miles of wiring, neatly bundled and channelled, link the rooms and services throughout the building to technical and consulting sources in Halifax and beyond.
Virtual services, near-instant lab results, and other diagnostic needs are built in and go well beyond what you may see.
The in-patient rooms are spacious, laid out in response to decades of ever-changing needs. Two rooms are earmarked for palliative care with extra touches, like the slightly wider electronic beds — known as “cuddle beds” for their capacity to allow loved ones to share the bed during the high stress final days.
Developing modern infrastructure to support the healthcare system so it can deliver the care Nova Scotians need is part of Action for Health, the government’s plan to improve healthcare in Nova Scotia.
Dr. Blaikie, the medical lead for the new centre says, “We are very proud of this state-of-the-art facility with new technologies to deliver healthcare and help attract and retain healthcare professionals to our community.”
Turning to his colleague Dr. Brian McFarlane, Blaikie offered a public thank you. He noted that Dr. McFarlane, who retired from practice a few years ago, spent the last thirty months working on the project, helping to steer the design and construction to its grand opening today.
The North Cumberland Memorial Hospital opened in 1966. Consideration of a new facility began thirty years ago and was often treated as a political football.
Given the $25.5 million facility that opened today, it may seem heretical, but the final product is worth the wait.
Barbie Cook, the Pugwash Site Manager, was the popular choice to cut the ceremonial ribbon for the new North Cumberland Health Care Centre. Holding the ribbon are, L. to R. - Dr. Peter Blaikie, Cook, Dr. Brian McFarlane, Premier Tim Houston, Brian Gordon of the Pugwash Hospital Foundation, Karen Oldfield CEO of NS Health, and Bethany McCormick VP Operations for the NSH Northern Zone. Below are photos on a tour of the new facility with Dr. McFarlane.
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