After a state of emergency was declared, the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) put a hold on some of its non-emergency services.
May 25, hospitals began gradually resuming the cancelled services, including 3,214 postponed surgeries.
NSHA now reports that 22 per cent of patients who had their surgeries postponed have now had them completed, and 11 per cent were given new dates.
Just last week, NSHA hospitals completed 861 surgeries and 422 endoscopy procedures.
According to a press release, the numbers are increasing every week.
Hospitals also completed 3,061 diagnostic imaging exams last week, a 33 per cent increase than the week before service introduction.
Dr. Greg Hirsch, senior medical director of surgical services, said in the release that hospitals have made significant adjustments to allow scheduling more surgeries while maintaining pandemic precautions.
“Our teams are working hard to prioritize cases and increase our capacity,” he said.
This also includes increasing the number of appointments available in clinics for IV treatments, blood transfusions, wound care and specialist consultations.
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Most blood collection services have also resumed at hospitals, but by appointment-only.
NSHA said in the release it was prepared for increased demand of its mental health and addiction services.
From Mar. 22 to May 30, the Mental Health and Addictions Program staff responded to 4,945 calls to the provincial crisis line.
Doctors also completed 36,012 mental health appointments by phone or video, a service that wasn’t always available province-wide.
The NSHA’s Opiod Use Disorder Treatment (OUDT) program has had 5,394 visits, in the same time.
Mental health services have also opened up several free online tools for Nova Scotians, like Mindwell-U, Therapy Assistance Online and I-CAN.
NSHA told Global News they do not know when all services will be back to a pre-COVID-19 level of activity as of now.
The provincial Mental Health Crisis Line operates 24/7 at 1-888-429-8167.
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