As COVID-19 pandemic continues, Nova Scotia looks to alleviate long-term care wait list

As Nova Scotia prepares for a potential second wave of the novel coronavirus, the province is looking to add short-term capacity to its long-term care system.

A request for information (RFI) issued on Nova Scotia’s tender website indicates the province is looking for proposals from organizations “that can provide short term capacity to the long-term care system over the next 24 months.”

During the peak of the pandemic in Nova Scotia, the Department of Health collaborated with long-term care facilities to hold a number of vacancies in facilities.

That allowed the long-term care homes to be able to isolate, support and care for residents who had tested positive for the virus.

“However, this supportive measure impacts the waitlist for placement,” Marla MacInnis, a spokesperson for the province, told Global News in a statement.

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The number of people on the wait list was not immediately available.

MacInnis said the RFI is meant to help Nova Scotia mitigate the impacts of the ongoing pandemic.

That would include the need to isolate, support and care for residents with COVID-19 if another outbreak occurs.

Long-term care homes have been the source of a significant number of coronavirus-related deaths in Canada.

Northwood Manor in Halifax — Atlantic Canada’s largest long-term care facility — experienced an outbreak that began on April 2 when a home support worker was exposed to the virus at a home.

1:54 NSGEU report lists factors union says contributed to Northwood COVID-19 outbreak

Over April and May, Northwood recorded 345 cases of the coronavirus involving 246 residents and 99 employees.

Of the 64 coronavirus-related deaths in the province, 53 were residents at Northwood. That’s 83 per cent of all deaths in the province.

The province’s health officials only declared the outbreak over on June 7.

A review into the handling of the pandemic at Northwood is underway with recommendations to be produced by Sept. 15.

The review will be completed under the Quality-improvement Information Protection Act and will be led by Dr. Chris Lata, an infectious disease consultant, and Lynn Stevenson, former associate deputy minister of health in British Columbia.

The recommendations will be made public after a review period but they will not be binding.

The RFI for the short-term capacity in Nova Scotia’s long-term care system is open until Aug. 28.