Families, physicians react to Nova Scotia's announcement on emergency room changes

It's been nearly a week since Katherine Snow made her mother-in-law's tragic death public.

On Wednesday, she watched as Nova Scotia's health minister announced changes to the way emergency departments will operate. 

“I think our stories kind of forced them to be reactive with what they've already been working on,” said Snow.

Charlene Snow died an hour after leaving the emergency department at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney, N.S., on Dec. 30, 2022.

The 67-year-old waited nearly seven hours and was told she would have to wait even longer.

A formal investigation is now underway to determine what happened.

“If any of those measures that they're implementing help a family avoid what we're going through, then that's absolutely worth what we've been doing in the last week and ringing the alarm bell about the state of emergency care,” said Snow.

Allison Holthoff, 37, died at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Amherst, N.S., on Dec. 31, 2022 after waiting seven hours for care. 

Cumberland North MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin has been by the side of the Holthoff family ever since. She doesn't feel Wednesday's plan is enough to fix the current issues.

“The missing voices today are our nurses and doctors. We heard nothing about offering nurses full-time positions, bonuses, and incentives,” said Smith-McCrossin.

“What was shared today is there's really no change. If the patient goes to the emergency room or needs an ambulance today, really nothing has changed. We need to see more effective actions taken to ensure no more patients are going to die."

At least one emergency room doctor is welcoming the changes. 

“I think it's long overdue to have someone in the waiting room, which can help the patients and advocate for the patients. Nurses who are in the emergency department simply don't have the time to do those things,” said Dr. Margaret Fraser, a Cape Breton physician.