(NB-Hospital-Overcrowding)
New Brunswick’s premier is blaming a lack of long-term care space for serious overcrowding at four regional hospitals.
Susan Holt told reporters yesterday that the hospitals are struggling as they take on patients who should be in long-term care.
Holt’s comments come in response to a request on Tuesday by the Horizon Health Network for the urgent transfer of patients in four hospitals to nursing homes.
The province agreed Wednesday to open a 30-day window for patients to jump the provincial nursing home wait-list and be fast-tracked into long-term care, although it’s not known how soon some patients can be moved.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NB-Metal-Fabricator)
A Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick metal fabricator is receiving assistance from the province to expand its operations.
Atelier Gérard Beaulieu specializes in the design and manufacturing of fixed and mobile fuel tanks under the Guardian Tanks brand.
The government, through Opportunities NB, is providing a conditionally repayable loan of up to 179-thousand dollars to help with the purchase and installation of a new laser cutting table and 375 thousand dollars to support additional hiring.
The company says it is modernizing its operations and creating up to 30 full-time jobs.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NB-Nursing-Home-Prioritization)
New Brunswick Social Development Minister Cindy Miles has approved the temporary prioritization of patients at four hospitals who are waiting for admission to nursing homes.
Miles says the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton, Upper River Valley Hospital in Hartland, Saint John Regional Hospital and Miramichi Regional Hospital will prioritize nursing home placements for the next 30 days.
While nursing home admissions are normally done chronologically, during critical circumstances the minister has the authority to prioritize admission of alternate-level-of-care patients waiting in hospital when requested by the health authority.
The change can be enacted for up to 30 days when emergency and acute care departments are over capacity and when critical surgeries are cancelled due to a lack of available hospital beds.
(The Canadian Press)
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(Halifax-Bike-Lanes)
A Halifax city councillor say she doesn’t think that Premier Tim Houston should be wading into the issue of how a bike lane is being designed in downtown Halifax.
Houston yesterday threatened to overrule City Council if it makes Morris Street a one-way street, alongside a two-way bike lane.
Kathryn Morse says if there are fresh concerns from the Port of Halifax about truck routes being potentially disrupted, or ambulances being delayed by the bike lane, council can review those claims.
However, she says the premier’s intervention seems more aimed at pressuring the municipal council to give the mayor added powers.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NS-Rare-Lobsters)
Two extremely rare, multi-coloured lobsters that were to be sold and eaten have been sent to the Back to the Sea Centre in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
The red and black lobster, named Bingo, has a rare colour mutation that’s estimated to occur in one in 50-million lobsters.
The pale blue lobster, named Moonmist after the beloved Maritime ice cream flavour, has a colour mutation estimated to occur in one and one million.
The pair will spend much of the summer in the centre, giving visitors as much time as possible to see the unique creatures before they are returned to the ocean. (The Canadian Press)
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