2023-06-07

Wildfire situation forces re-location of Shelburne County hospital patients to Lunenburg County

BRIDGEWATER - Fifteen people - patients at Shelburne County's hospital - are now receiving their inpatient care in Lunenburg County after wildfire risk forced the evacuation of Roseway Hospital in Sandy Point.

The majority, 11 patients, went to Fishermen's Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg, with the remainder taken to South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater. Some patients of the now-shuttered hospital were transferred to other health care facilities or discharged, Nova Scotia Health (NSH) indicated in a news release on May 31.

The moves come in response to the ongoing wildfire situation in Shelburne County. Officials plan to re-assess the circumstances as necessary, NSH said, and additional details and updates will be provided as conditions change. "Affected patients and their families have been advised of the temporary move," NSH added.

Planning teams had been working on possible contingencies for days before the hospital evacuation, Tanya Nixon, NSH's operations vice-president for the zone that includes hospitals in Shelburne and Lunenburg counties, said in a phone interview.

Emergency response planning and exercises are part of ordinary practice, she added.

Space at both Lunenburg County hospitals was available. Four patients required ambulance transfer, while the others were taken by bus.

"The 11 patients that went to Fishermen's Memorial were accompanied by three staff and were received by a large team of leaders and health care providers," Nixon said. Patients were "assessed, checked-in" and settled.

The process of re-location started at 5:15 p.m. on May 31.

"By 7:15 p.m., we had all patients, most staff and providers out of the building and, by 8 p.m., the building was secured," Nixon added.

The Roseway staff who didn't accompany patients were re-deployed to other sites or will work from home. The Shelburne County hospital employs over 150 people.

"We want that community to have access to care as soon as possible," said Nixon. "In the interim, we're working at expanding primary care access in Shelburne County where it is safe to do so."

Roseway Hospital will need an inspection, cleaned and, possibly repaired before services can resume once the evacuation order is lifted. "We will work closely with first responders who are monitoring the fire situation to ensure that occurs as quickly as possible when we get the all-clear to come back," Nixon said.

She credited the quick, efficient efforts of all personnel who helped in the re-location. There were no incidents during the process. "This is really no small feat and it really does take a large team to do this - the staff, physicians, the patients' families - they were all incredible and it couldn't have been done without all of these people."