ER doctor warning about Nova Scotia’s overburdened health system

An emergency room doctor is raising alarm bells over the intense pressure Nova Scotia’s health system is under each day.

Dr. Kirk Magee, an emergency physician at the Halifax Infirmary, says ER access continues to be blocked by a shortage of available beds.

Magee points out most — if not all — of their hospital inpatient beds are filled.

“When that happens, of course, patients who are admitted from the emerge can’t go upstairs. And then that means that patients in waiting rooms wait longer, or patients in facilities like Cobequid (Community Health Centre) that need to be transferred into the city have to wait,” he said.

Magee says he’s particularly concerned about people who spend hours in the waiting room with serious symptoms.

“We’re not talking about people waiting just a few extra minutes here. We’re talking about people waiting for hours to be seen for complaints like chest pain,” he added.

While some patients are waiting for hours on end, Magee said health-care workers are making difficult decisions on who to prioritize.

Get weekly health news

“Our folks in triage are really being faced with kind of Sophie’s Choice. They have 10, 15, 20 or 30 patients all saying that they feel unwell, they’re feeling really sick,” he said.

“And they may only have one resource, one bed available in the whole department. And how do you weed out that needle in the haystack?”

Bill VanGorder, a seniors advocate, is concerned long wait times are especially hard for older patients.

• First in Quebec program lets mothers undergo addiction treatment without leaving children
• ByHeart baby formula botulism cases rise to 31 as recall continues
• Alberta’s plan to let doctors work publicly and privately worries critics, health-care advocates
• Go, Canada! The 1st look at Team Canada’s 2026 Winter Olympics uniforms

• Healthy Living: Strep throat and ear infections
• Man saves two strangers in one year using CPR
• New report outlines threat to domestic violence victims from affordable housing crisis
• B.C. government moves to protect health care workers involved in involuntary mental health care

“They’re finding these long waits are really, not only upsetting, but difficult for them,” said VanGorder, a past chair of Canadian Association for Retired Persons (CARP) Nova Scotia.

“Often, they have to have family and friends there with them, so the long wait in the emergency is an issue and has been for some time.”

The comments come after the province’s NDP raised concerns this month around the pressure faced at Lower Sackville’s Cobequid Community Health Centre.

The local MLA, Paul Wozney, says a physician from the hospital called him “in a panic,” expressing grave concerns due to high demand.

• It’s unacceptable B.C. has been cut out of pipeline talks, Premier Eby tells Mark Carney
• ‘Slender Man’ stabber found after cutting ankle monitor, fleeing group home

“Patients, including one who suffered a stroke, were being turned away,” Wozney said last Wednesday.

In response, a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Wellness said there is progress in terms of health-care recruitment.

The department pointed to statistics that span from when the Tim Houston government was first elected in August 2021 until April of this year.

According to the department, the number of new doctors is up 80 per cent, while the number of new nurse practitioners is up 390 per cent and registered nurses are up 260 per cent.

Magee says he recognizes and welcomes the support, but stresses that fixing the system won’t be easy.

“The improvements are so small as to be not seen by either the patients, which is most important, or by the staff.”