The Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) has confirmed that changes to Dartmouth’s pain clinic are coming but they’re not planning to end service — at least for the moment.
Kristen Libscombe, a spokesperson for the NSHA, says that the health authority is still weighing its options.
“There has not been a decision made to end service at Dartmouth General Hospital,” wrote Lipscombe, who said that the future of the clinic is something that they are looking at, as they consider a “provincial approach” to pain management services in Nova Scotia.
“Whether we continue to provide services the same way, at the same location, is part of the planning and to be determined.”
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Previously staffed with two doctors, the clinic is incredibly busy and faces a 550-patient waitlist.
One of the doctors has already retired, announcing his decision in July.
The other specialist at the clinic is planning to leave his role as a pain specialist. According to Dr. Romesh Shulka, Chief of the Department of Anesthesia at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital (QEII), the specialist has decided to discontinue his practice at the pain clinic and focus on anesthesiology.
Instead, a new doctor will take over the private practice of the outgoing specialist, beginning Jan. 1, 2018. Instead of the hospital, that new doctor will see patients out of a private clinic.
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Shulka says that the health authority will also be launching a national search for a new anesthesiologist to offset the clinic’s loss. They’ve already verbally agreed to hire one more anesthesiologist, who is currently being trained in British Columbia.
READ MORE: Living with CRPS, an excruciating chronic pain condition that can ‘happen to anyone’
“Where that person, whether in Halifax, Dartmouth or both places is yet to be determined,” said Shulka. “We’re going to try our to keep the clinic open so that patients from that area won’t have to travel to Halifax.
In the meantime, patients who have a family doctor will be directed back to them to receive treatment.
“We are trying our best given the resources we have,” said Shulka.
The pain clinic in Halifax’s QEII hospital has 850 people on its own waitlist.
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According to the NSHA, pain clinics are a tool for and support for those attempting to manage short-term pain and chronic pain.
The specialized clinics triage patients, selecting those who need their help the most.
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