The South Shore is home to an aging population, and over the past decade the number of individuals seeking palliative care has risen by nearly 70 per cent.
However, there are no designated palliative care beds at any of the three hospitals between Queens and Lunenburg counties.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union raises alarm on emergency room overcrowding
“You basically are entered into the ER, if there are no beds available you will remain in the ER,” said John Briand.
“You could be in the ER for a number of days, passing with no family, and no dignity.”
Briand became aware of the issue through his wife. She worked as a caregiver coordinator on the South Shore, but it wasn’t until she was diagnosed with cancer and required palliative care herself that she confided in her husband the issues she had come across on the job.
“It became evident when they asked that she would go to the emergency room and she said if it was not possible to have a room she would not admit herself to the ER,” said Briand.
When his wife did ultimately require palliative care Briand says they got lucky in that there was a bed available – but it was in the maternity ward.
“So she was laying in a situation where she was preparing to die, and she was listening to others bring new babies into the world.”
While Briand says his wife considered this a positive thing, he says it should have never happened.
“I didn’t feel it was an appropriate place, but it was the only place for her.”
His wife ended up passing away at home with family in January, but Briand has now made it his mission to ensure other families don’t have to worry about being stuck waiting in the emergency room at end of life, and he’s already found support.
PC MLA for Queens-Shelburne Kim Masland is helping take up the cause, bringing up the issue during Question Period last month.
“We need to have these dedicated, designated beds so that when people are nearing end of life, they can make sure that they are dying with dignity,” said Masland.
In a statement, the Department of Health says that “Government has committed to improve palliative care services in Nova Scotia,” making note of two hospices currently operational, with a third in Cape Breton under construction.
While none of those help individuals on the South Shore, the statement goes on to say “Government is committed to providing palliative beds on the South Shore. It is in discussions with NSHA and other stakeholders about the best way to provide palliative care in the region.”
While Briand says he appreciates the government is looking into it, he says action needs to happen now.
“This is a personal matter for everybody involved,” he said.
“We’re all going to face this situation at some point in time”
Both Queens and Lunenburg Counties are the oldest populations in the province with over 35 per cent of residents over the age of 60, and while Briand acknowledges that many people hope or plan to pass away peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones, that’s not always the case.
According to Stats Canada over half of Nova Scotians pass away at hospitals.
“We want to make sure there are beds available so that when you’re loved one is ending that point of life, they can be surrounded in a quiet private confidential environment where they can spend those last moments together.”
Of course, beds in hospitals are only part of the solution. Many hospitals in the province are already dealing with overcrowding issues, which is why Briand says ultimately he’d like to see a hospice open up in his region.
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