Nova Scotia sees 35 per cent drop in ER closures, but some rural hospitals struggle

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia is reporting a 35 per cent drop in the number of hours emergency departments were closed across the province, though many rural ERs continue to struggle with chronic closures.

In a statement Wednesday, the Department of Health said these smaller emergency departments are important for serving communities, “but at times can be challenging to keep open due to unavoidable shortages of the minimum required clinical staff” to operate safely.

A new government report that covers April 1, 2023, to the end of March 2024 reveals that in southwestern Nova Scotia the Roseway Hospital in Shelburne was closed for 4,832 hours — the equivalent of 201 days. The Digby General Hospital had 3,923 closure hours, or the equivalent 163 days.

About 60 kilometres east in Liverpool, N.S., the Queens General Hospital was closed 4,438 hours, or 184 days.

Chronic closures also hit the Eastern Memorial Hospital in Canso, on the northeastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, which was closed for the equivalent of 189 days.

The emailed statement from Department of Health spokesperson Amanda Silliker said the province continues to focus on recruiting and retaining doctors and other health professionals in these and other rural communities.

Provincewide, ERs were closed for 51,552 hours over the 12-month period. That’s down from 79,813 hours in the previous year and means that in 2023-2024, emergency rooms were open for 87 per cent of their official operating hours.

Of these closures, there were 28,171 hours during which ERs could not open because they did not have enough staff to safely operate — down from 41,923 hours a year earlier.

Emergency department closures caused by a lack of workers represented 55 per cent of all closures between April 2023 and March 2024.

On Wednesday, the provincial health authority issued three press releases for separate emergency department closures in the coming days at hospitals in Musquodoboit Harbour, Digby and Windsor.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 8, 2025.

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press