News/Canada/Nova Scotia

The IWK Health Centre says it has been bombarded with feedback as it looks to overhaul its menu.The Halifax hospital for women and children launched a survey in March, asking current and former IWK families to weigh in on the Dial for Dining food services.It operates similar to room service at a hotel, allowing patients and their families to order off a menu around the clock.Andrea Penney, the manager of food services, said she was shocked by the response. At least 900 surveys were completed before the deadline on Friday night."This shows how important nourishment is in the patient journey and what an impact it has," she said. "We know that it's one of the items that when you're in hospital you can control."The IWK is launching a new computer system in August that will include changes to t...

A Nova Scotia woman recovering from a lung transplant says she had to take tens of thousands of dollars from her retirement fund in order to undergo the life-saving procedure because provincial medical allowances fall far short of her expenses.Nan Clarke, who is originally from Charlottetown but retired in the Halifax area, was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2019. That's a thickening of the lungs that causes them to stiffen up."We were told there was a possibility of dying early on. That was hard to take," Clarke, 73, said in an interview.Clarke's only chance of survival was a transplant, but that meant temporarily moving to Toronto.Lungs are the only organ that can't be transplanted on the East Coast. Patients undergo their initial treatment and tests in Halifax, but must...

Nova Scotia's health authority issued a tender on Thursday for master planning services as part of the continued redevelopment of the QEII Health Sciences Centre, work that could include the development of a new hospital building.The tender calls for project management and architectural services for further redevelopment of buildings on the campus that includes the Halifax Infirmary and the series of buildings around the Victoria General Hospital.The work would also include, "if deemed required by Nova Scotia Health and the province, the development of an additional QEII site (location yet to be determined)," according to the tender.The initial term of the agreement would be for two years, with the health authority having the ability to extend it for an additional year. Submissions are due...

Nova Scotia's health authority says it has hired one doctor eager to leave the United States because of President Donald Trump, and is in talks with more than two dozen more.The authority launched a digital recruiting campaign in the U.S. in November, targeting physicians feeling uneasy about the election results."We saw it as an opportunity with the election to remind folks and the leads that we have in the U.S. that we are here, ready and waiting for them should they wish to choose Nova Scotia to come practise here," said Katrina Philopoulos, the director of physician recruiting.Nova Scotia Health has been actively recruiting south of the border for years, but the new campaign led to 150 responses."We have seen some in certain specialties that have decided that they're worried about how ...

When Bruce Masales was diagnosed with Stage 4 bladder cancer, he says the news came without warning.But as a longtime volunteer Halifax firefighter, Masales said he at least took comfort in the belief he would receive financial compensation. However, Masales said he was told he doesn't qualify under the provincial Workers' Compensation Board or other municipal insurance coverage, falling through a gap in both systems."I'm sitting there — I was kind of shocked," Masales, 60, said recently.The doctors discovered the cancer during an unrelated surgery he had last summer, Masales said.He was diagnosed in August 2024 with metastatic Stage 4 bladder cancer — meaning it had spread to other organs. Masales was originally told he had about a year to live.Bruce Masales, right, poses for a photo in t...

Five weeks after Cathy Croskery's right breast was biopsied for suspected cancer, she still hadn't received the results.She figured that was good news. It wasn't.The 58-year-old mother and wife eventually discovered she has invasive carcinoma, but had to track down that diagnosis herself.Croskery doesn't have a family doctor. She said that led to barriers getting into the system and a breakdown in communication in receiving test results that would ultimately land her in an operating room for a lumpectomy days after finally receiving them."If I had kept going, 'No news is good news,' where would I be?" said Croskery, who lives in Middle Sackville, N.S., but is originally from Burlington, Ont. "That's a death sentence for a lot of people."Experts say Croskery's case underscores that the prov...

As anxiety grew among Nova Scotians over the fear of the arrival of COVID-19 in early March 2020, Premier Stephen McNeil wanted to meet with a public health official he barely knew.That person's name? Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief medical officer of health.Because Public Health operates independently of government, McNeil said there was a hesitance for the department to meet with his office.The two men were soon joined at the hip, providing daily news conferences discussing the state of the pandemic in the province, providing consistent messaging about what people should and shouldn't be doing.To mark the five-year anniversary of Nova Scotia's first presumptive COVID-19 cases, CBC News spoke with McNeil and Strang to get their thoughts on the province's early pandemic response, a...

Conversations are happening in Nova Scotia about developing the first midwifery education program east of Quebec.Documents released to CBC News under freedom of information laws show correspondence between provincial officials in recent months that mention Mount Saint Vincent University and Cape Breton University as possible locations.It's welcome news to midwives in Nova Scotia, who have been advocating for a midwifery education program for years."We need to be growing our own midwives here and we need to be supporting midwifery to grow," said Liz Fraser, a registered midwife and spokesperson for the Association of Nova Scotia Midwives, in an interview.She said having a midwifery school in Nova Scotia would create a pathway for new midwives, and it could act as a recruitment tool for midw...

Andrea Hancock says she understands that people are angry with her daughter — she's angry too — but she says the 19-year-old is also severely unwell, and she warned police, social workers, doctors, shelter workers, therapists — even the neighbours — that her daughter was dangerous.  "I said, 'Somebody is going to get hurt ... she's going to die or somebody will die,'" she said this week during an exclusive interview in her home in Greenfield, N.S., a rural community about 130 kilometres west of Halifax. She said her daughter, Elliott Chorny, has struggled with mental illness since she was a child. Chorny managed her condition with medication and therapy when she was younger, but her health declined while dealing with physical health problems, relentless — and sometimes violent — bullying, ...

Nova Scotia's health authority has signed a contract to bring in diagnostic imaging techs to help with backlogs for MRIs and ultrasounds.The health authority signed a one-year untendered contract with British Columbia-based ProMed HR Solutions in January, with an optional one-year extension. The contract, which could be worth as much as $17.9 million, is similar to those used with travel nurse agencies to address shortages among nursing ranks.The province's procurement rules allow the government to bypass public tenders in circumstances deemed to be urgent, specialized or exceptional.A spokesperson for Nova Scotia Health described the deal with ProMed as a "no-spend commitment standing offer.""It's a pay-as-you-go type of environment," Health Minister Michelle Thompson said in an interview...