Nova Scotia opens first transitional health centre in Bedford

Nova Scotia’s first stand-alone, transitional health centre will open its doors this week in Bedford, N.S., and welcome its first eight patients who are currently in hospital. The new clinic, West Bedford Transitional Health, will accept another nine transfer patients next week.

Karen Oldfield is the interim president and CEO of Nova Scotia Health. She said the health centre will go a long way toward providing better patient care.

“It will mean 178 acute care beds will be used the way they were intended: for those who need them the most,” Oldfield said. "This centre truly is a gamechanger for our health-care system.”

The centre will accept 68 patients in coming months, said a news release from Nova Scotia Health. An additional 110 rooms will open when an expansion is finished in 2026.

The transitional health centre will support patients over the age of 18 who no longer require acute care but still require assistance during their transition back to the community.

“Many patients stay in hospital for a variety of reasons. Whether they need a little more work on functional health, they may be waiting for services in the community and otherwise, equipment ... they remain in hospital for long periods of time,” said Christy Bussey, Central Zone medical executive director with Nova Scotia Health.

The new facility features private rooms, dining spaces, and rehabilitation spaces.

Bussey says it’s not intended to be a long-term stay.

“So, patients are not coming to live here and that's very important. They are absolutely coming here on their road to somewhere else in the community which is more often going to be home,” she said.

With files from Vanessa Wright.

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