Victoria County residents worry as Baddeck ER's temporary closure passes two-year mark

Nova Scotia Health officials say the emergency department closure at the Victoria County Memorial Hospital in Baddeck is just temporary, but area residents are starting to worry more than two years after the ER was replaced with an urgent treatment centre.

Spectators crowded into the county council chamber in Baddeck on Monday, where provincial officials provided an update on the area's health-care facilities.

They said the ER in Baddeck cannot reopen until the province can find doctors trained and willing to take emergency shifts at a rural facility.

Dr. Mary Hutchison, who worked in the North Sydney area for 40 years and retired in 2018, said in an interview after the council meeting that she is not confident the province will be able to fill those roles any time soon.

"If they had started 25 years ago when they knew that a lot of the docs were going to be grading out, they were going to be retiring, it would have been much easier," she said.

The government has said it will be easier to attract doctors once the large project to redevelop health-care facilities in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality is finished, which is expected in 2028-29, and a new medical campus is opened at Cape Breton University, expected this fall.

Officials told council that 63 per cent of patients at the Baddeck urgent treatment centre last year came from CBRM.

Hutchison suggested adding nursing hours to the urgent treatment centre in Baddeck, increasing urgent care options in Sydney and expanding the emergency room in Glace Bay.

She said that could take some of the pressure off Baddeck's hospital until the redevelopment project is done.

"If they increase the spots at urgent care in Sydney and also increase the days in Glace Bay, that may help the bottleneck somewhat until they get their new facilities," Hutchison said.

But Brett MacDougall, vice-president of operations for the health authority's eastern zone, said the problems in Baddeck can't be fixed right away.

The regional hospital in Sydney is currently short five emergency doctors and both Glace Bay and Baddeck need two physicians each, plus some nurses.

"The timeline is heavily dependent on physician recruitment, physician availability," he said.

"That's really the underpinning resource that's required to build the emergency department service back up at Baddeck."

Coun. Jess Kerr, who represents the Baddeck area on Victoria County council, said many of his constituents are seniors and many complain about wait times at the regional hospital, which is a 45-minute drive away.

"They're concerned," he said. "A lot of them have health issues, a lot of them don't have access to transportation and when we hear of the nightmares that [go] on at the regional, it's not building a lot of confidence here."

MacDougall said the province is committed to reopening the ER in Baddeck and suggested the county consider hiring a community navigator to work with the province.

"It's going to take some time and I think we're going to need the partnership of the community to try and help solve some of those solutions," he said.

"Is it the silver bullet? I don't think so, but it's certainly very helpful and complementary to our effort and I think it sends a message to anybody who is exploring coming to rural communities in Nova Scotia that the community and all of the partners are really invested and interested in welcoming health-care professionals."

Kerr said provincial officials seem to be trying their best, but residents are still upset and frustrated.

"I know that doctor recruitment is a big problem … I hope the commitment is still there, because we are not giving up here."

MacDougall said now that the county council has been updated, officials will be back in Baddeck on Wednesday at the Inverary Resort from 6-8 p.m. to provide information for the public and to get feedback.