The Nova Scotia Health Authority (NHSA) announced on Sunday that the Musquodoboit Valley Memorial Hospital is set to shut its doors this week, bringing the number of Nova Scotia’s 37 emergency departments that will be closed to six.
The NSHA said the department will be closed from Monday, Aug. 12 to Friday, Aug. 16, with the emergency department reopening on Saturday, Aug. 17.
The NSHA said physician shortage is the cause of the closure. But the facility in Middle Musquodoboit isn’t the only one that will be closed at some point this week due to doctor shortages.
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According to the NSHA’s temporary closure notices, five other emergency departments in the province are all set to be closed for the same issue.
The North Cumberland Collaborative Emergency Centre in Pugwash, N.S., is set to be closed until 8 p.m., on Sunday.
The emergency department at the Roseway Hospital in Shelburne, N.S., will be closed until 8 p.m., on Sunday and will be closed between 6 a.m., and 8 p.m., on Monday.
The Annapolis Community Health Centre’s Collaborative Emergency Centre in Annapolis Royal, N.S., will be closed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
The emergency department at the Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital in Sheet Harbour, N.S., is closed from 8 a.m., on Monday until Wednesday.
The Lillian Fraser Memorial Hospital Collaborative Emergency Centre in Tatamagouche, N.S., will be closed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, Thursday, and Saturday.
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Additional closures, no cause listed
Five other emergency departments are set to be closed at some point this week, although the NSHA did not provide a reason for their closures.
Those additional closures include the emergency department at the All Saints Springhill Hospital in Springhill, N.S., which will be closed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., on Monday and Tuesday, and the South Cumberland Community Care Centre emergency department in Parrsboro, N.S., which will be closed from 8:30 a.m., to 8:30 p.m., from Sunday until Wednesday as well as Saturday.
In Cape Breton closures are more extensive, with Glace Bay Hospital’s emergency department closed for the month of August and the Northside General Hospital emergency department in North Sydney, N.S,. being closed until Wednesday, Aug 28.
The New Waterford Consolidated Hospital’s emergency department closed until Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 7 a.m.
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