A health advocate says Nova Scotians should be demanding more from Halifax’s main hospital after two more leaks were found over the past two weeks.
One leak was discovered at the Victoria General Hospital on May 8and another on May 17 – both in the same area of the hospital’s Centennial Building.
It’s just another issue at the site, which has been plagued by bedbugs, foul water and floods in recent years.
“People are coming to expect this, that this is just another day at the Victoria General Hospital,” says Chris Parsons of the Nova Scotia Health Coalition.
“Nova Scotians shouldn’t have to stand for the fact that, oh the same place leaked twice in a major hospital in the downtown of the capital city, and that we shouldn’t be expected just to shrug it off.”
The Nova Scotia Health Authority says the leaks didn’t affect patients and didn’t force the cancellation of any appointments. It also says leaks are common in aging buildings.
“With aging infrastructure we expect things like floods and leaks to happen,” says Kristen Lipscombe, spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
But even newer infrastructure isn’t immune to leaks; the 10-year-old Cobequid Community Health Centre in Lower Sackville fell victim to a flood Thursday morning.
“So even with newer facilities, floods and leaks happen, and this is just something that we have to accept and deal with - leaks happen - and the procedure happened as per protocol and everything was taken care of quickly, efficiently, smoothly and the all-clear was called very quickly,” says Lipscombe.
She says the flood at the Cobequid Community Health Centre and leaks at the VG Hospital have been cleaned up and that patient care was not affected.
The Centennial and Victoria buildings at the Victoria General site are supposed to be replaced in the coming years as part of the QEII Health Sciences Centre redevelopment project. A master plan is in the final stage of review and is expected to be presented to government soon.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Laura Brown
