Cape Breton hospital flooding forces surgeons, specialists out of their offices

The third floor of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital looked more like a wading pool after a pipe burst Sunday evening.

Now, Dr. Margaret Fraser – a family and emergency room physician at the hospital - says three general surgeons, a cardiologist and several other specialists have been forced out of their offices by the flood damage.

"One of the physicians I spoke to was told that it will be one-to-four months before they can realistically look at getting back into their office space, so it could be as long as into the new year,” Fraser said.

Dr. Fraser said one of those surgeons is now working out of the hospital's heart function clinic.

She said no surgeries have been cancelled - aside from 11 cataract procedures that were rescheduled on Monday- but some patient appointments have been postponed.

"If they weren't able to move into a new space immediately, those appointments would have been cancelled and we all know that the waitlists in Cape Breton are fairly long for most services anyway,” Fraser said.

The Nova Scotia Health Authority told CTV Atlantic the affected doctors have now been provided with temporary office spaces and they don't anticipate much further impact to patient care.

However, the cleanup has only begun.

"They've been temporarily relocated so that they can maintain their clinics for the time being,” said Cathy Lynn Howley, director of perioperative services and site lead at the hospital. “Once the assessment and the extent of the repairs that are required are determined, then finding them a more permanent location is our number-one priority at this point."

Howley said a contractor has not yet been hired to do the remediation work, saying it will take place once the assessment of the damage has been completed.

"There's a shortage of medical office space in Sydney, so it's going to be difficult to find office space,” Fraser said.

Howley said solutions could include moving some staff members around.

"Office space is certainly at a premium, but we're exploring all options,” Howley said. “Whether that be, you know, some administrative folks can work at a different location, off-site hybrid options, we're exploring everything at this point."

Howley said it's still too early to provide a timeline on when the cleanup might be complete.

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