A woman who came back home to Nova Scotia for cancer treatment says she probably would have received better care had she stayed in Vietnam.

Cynthia O’Connell spent the last seven years living all over the world. She had been living in Vietnam when she received her devastating diagnosis in July.

“I’m a Nova Scotian. My parents live in Nova Scotia. I’m an only child and they demanded that I come home because they felt like Canada had the best healthcare system in the world,” says O’Connell.

After waiting two months she was admitted to the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax to have a large tumour removed from her ovary.

“I should have stayed in Vietnam because the healthcare there was considered much, much better,” she says.

O’Connell says her complaints are not about the care she received but rather the conditions. She was in a ward with other patients, instead of in a private room, and says her room was dirty.

“The cleaning lady would come in and sweep the middle of the floor. She would mop the middle of the floor and that was it.”

She also says the food was inappropriate, the temperature unbearable and the water wasn’t to be used for drinking or washing.

For the most part, Capital Health doesn’t disagree with her complaints.

“A lot of what she says is very true,” says John Gillis, a spokesperson for Capital Health. “This isn’t a good place for patient care, modern patient care, or for our staff to work.”

There have been concerns about the Victoria General hospital for a number of years. In 2011, the Nova Scotia government earmarked $1 million for a study to determine how best to move inpatient care out of the building.

The study has been completed and is currently being reviewed but until the government makes a move, there are no other options for patients in O’Connell’s position.

“If you end up with ovarian cancer you are going to end up in this ward and it’s not somewhere you want to end up.”

She says people she spoke to in Vietnam understood why she wanted to come home for treatment but now she wishes she hadn’t.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell