After months of fighting with Veterans Affairs, Second World War sailor Petter Blindheim is finally staying where he and his family wanted – at Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Hospital in Halifax.
Now the Standing Committee of Veteran Affairs, a group made up of Nova Scotia MLAs, doesn't want to see a veteran have to wait that long again.
“The Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs wanted an update on Camp Hill specifically,” said Lindsay Peach of the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
Peach briefed the members on a new agreement, made on June 24 with Veterans Affairs, that would loosen restrictions on veterans seeking long-term care at the facility.
“With the agreement that's in place, Veterans Affairs now has the ability to allow a bigger variety of veterans going into Camp Hill, and I guess that's what we were looking for,” said Nova Scotia PC MLA Alfie MacLeod.
But what isn't clear is which restrictions were lifted. Camp Hill is operated by the province, but Veterans Affairs Canada determines which veterans are eligible to stay in a Camp Hill bed.
“We do have an agreement in place with Veterans Affairs Canada that allows us to use any vacant capacity in our contract beds again on a temporary basis,” said Peach. “It wouldn't be a location that we could permanently locate an individual or provide care to them.”
There are 175 beds in Camp Hill. One hundred and fifty of those are taken by veterans, with 13 beds occupied by patients from the Dartmouth General Hospital who are staying temporarily. Twelve beds remain empty.
The Standing Committee voted to meet again in three months’ time to get another update on the new Camp Hill agreement.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Matt Woodman.
