ER overcrowding requires multiple solutions: N.S. Health Authority executive

Tanya Penney, senior executive director of emergency care priorities for the Nova Scotia Health Authority, said the overcrowding of emergency departments is affecting patients and health-care professionals in unexpected ways.

“Physicians and front-line nurse staff would tell you they’re diagnosing illnesses they shouldn’t be,” she told CTV News Atlantic’s Todd Battis during an interview on Thursday. “It’s their first time telling someone they have cancer or along those lines.

“It’s morally distressing to staff as well as Nova Scotians.”

New data from Nova Scotia Health says 673 people died in emergency departments last year. Penney noted patient numbers are returning to pre-pandemic levels.

“There’s lots of comorbidities in Nova Scotians,” she said. “Nova Scotians are typically sicker than the rest of the country. The other aspect is there is a certain Nova Scotia population that doesn’t wish to die at home.”

Penney said there needs to a “multi-focussed strategy” to deal with overcrowding and help more patients.

“If you think about a patient journey, there’s lots of strategies Nova Scotia is doing to alleviate the bottlenecks,” she said. “The rapid assessment zone is a separated area of emergency department where sick people can be assessed and wait in an internal waiting room.

“It’s been highly functional at the Halifax Infirmary. There are infrastructural issues, but we’re working to scale that model.”

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