Nova Scotia emergency room deaths up 10 per cent in 2022, data shows

Newly released data shows that deaths in Nova Scotia emergency departments were up 10 per cent in 2022 from the previous year.

According to health data obtained by the Nova Scotia NDP through a freedom of information request, 558 people died in emergency departments across the province last year, up from 505 in 2021.

The figures, which cover Nova Scotia's four health zones from 2017 through 2022, show that last year's death total was the highest during the six years.

The province's central zone, which includes Halifax and the surrounding area, had the most emergency room deaths last year, with 289.

The next highest number was 126 in the western zone, which covers the South Shore and Annapolis Valley.

The question of ER deaths in Nova Scotia has been in the news after 37-year-old Allison Holthoff died on Dec. 31 after a seven-hour wait at the Cumberland Regional Health Centre emergency department in Amherst, N.S.

The new data shows that deaths in emergency departments have fluctuated over the six-year period, with the fewest ER deaths recorded at 393 in 2020 and the second most occurring in 2018, with 531.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2023.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

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Kunst und Musik bei der IKiBu 2022

Kunst und Musik bei der IKiBu 2022 Die diesjährige Internationale Kinderbuchausstellung „IKiBu“ der Stadtbibliothek findet von Montag bis Samstag, 21. bis 26. November, statt. Ihr Motto lautet „IKiBu … gibt den Ton an!“. Wie bei diesem Titel nicht anders zu erwarten, geht es bei den Veranstaltungen um Musik, aber auch um Kunst. Thomas Diederichs, Sprecher der Volksbank Rhein-Ruhr als Hauptsponsor, Dr. Jan-Pieter Barbian, Direktor der Stadtbibliothek, und Jens Holthoff, Leiter der Kinder- und Jugendbibliothek und Koordinator der IKiBu, haben heute das Programm vorgestellt. Wie immer bringt die IKiBu Lesungen und Workshops in die Duisburger Schulen und Kitas. Bei den rund 35 Veranstaltungen lernen Kinder klassische und bekannte Werke aus der Welt der Kunst und Musik kennen. Dabei begegnen sie Künstlerinnen, Musikern und Schauspielern. Veranstaltungs-orte sind das IKibu-Studio, aus dem online übertragen wird, die Kita- und Klassenzimmer, aber auch die Bibliotheken, das Stadttheater und das Lehmbruck Museum. Beim offenen Programm an den Nachmittagen der IKiBu-Woche und am samstäglichen Aktionstag können sich Kinder und Familien auf ein vielfältiges Angebot für Kinder ab drei Jahren freuen. Vom Kindertheater über einen Musikzirkus, Ritter Rost, Kunst- und Manga-Workshops bis hin zu einer Digital-Werkstatt ist für jeden Geschmack etwas dabei. Bei der Zusammenstellung des Programms haben die Mitarbeitenden der Kinder- und Jugendbibliothek besonderen Wert auf interaktive Angebote gelegt. Das junge Publikum soll Musik und Bilder, Farben und Formen, Töne, Klänge und Rhythmus mit allen Sinnen erfahren können. Zwei Ausstellungen in der Bezirksbibliothek Rheinhausen und der Zentral-bibliothek zeigen Werke der Illustratorin Anke Faust, die für ihre Arbeiten bereits mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurde. Für ihr Kinderbuch „Ein Schaf fürs Leben“ wurde ihr der Kinderbuchpreis NRW verliehen. Anke Faust hat das diesjährige Plakatmotiv entworfen und wird während der IKiBu Kinder durch ihre Ausstellung führen. Die Teilnahme an allen Veranstaltungen ist kostenfrei. Anmeldungen sind ab Dienstag, 18. Oktober, möglich. Alle Informationen rund um die IKiBu und zur Anmeldung finden sich im Internet auf www.stadtbibliothek-duisburg.de oder auf www.ikibu.de. Programm-Flyer liegen in den Bibliotheken aus. Fragen beantwortet die Bibliothek gerne telefonisch unter 0203 283-4221 (montags bis freitags von 13 bis 19 Uhr, samstags von 11 bis 16 Uhr) oder per E-Mail an [email protected]. Bildzeile: Foto – Dr. Jan-Pieter Barbian, Thomas Diederichs und Jens Holthoff stellen das diesjährige IKiBu-Programm vor. (Foto: Stadtbibliothek Duisburg) Read the full article

Jan Holthoff “Paranoid” 2011

Renovated ER at Nova Scotia's Cumberland Regional Health Centre to reopen next month

After months of delay, renovations at a hospital emergency department in northern Nova Scotia are drawing to a close.

The provincial health authority says the newly renovated space at the Cumberland Regional Health Centre in Amherst, N.S., is to reopen Feb. 14.

A flood in the emergency department last May forced it to operate in a temporary location within the hospital.

The authority says completion of the work was also delayed by several months because of a shortage of trades workers and delays in securing supplies.

It says items such as fire dampers, door frames and ceiling panels had to be pulled from other redevelopment projects throughout the province or procured through national and international companies.

The authority says the redesign focused on enhancing the efficient flow of patients in and out of the department and also on improving the experience of patients.

The upgrades include a new registration and triage space with a dedicated waiting area for triage. The patient care space has been expanded and there is a new private observation room with space for three stretchers.

As well, new furniture has been added to the patient waiting room and staff work station, including colour-coded chairs for triage and waiting areas, and there are improvements to the space used to support patients needing mental health services.

The Cumberland Regional's emergency department has drawn scrutiny since the Dec. 31 death of Allison Holthoff following a seven-hour wait for treatment in the ER's temporary space.

Her widower, Gunter Holthoff, has said he took his wife to the hospital after she collapsed in extreme pain at their home after complaining of an upset stomach.

The cause of her death has not been released, and the health authority is conducting a quality review investigation at the hospital's emergency department.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2023.

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Emergency departments are in a state of crisis, Halifax ER chief says

The head of emergency medicine for Halifax and the surrounding area says ERs are under the most extreme pressure that he's seen in his 23-year career, and he says it's taking a toll on patients and health-care workers.

 Emergency medicine is in a state of "crisis" amid a shortage of nurses, physicians and hospital beds, and with a rise in patients with complex needs, Dr. Kirk Magee, chief of the central zone's network of emergency departments, said in an interview Thursday.

"We all went into emergency medicine because we love to do it and we love a challenge -- but we used to have the resources to meet that challenge," he said.

"Now (emergency department staff) are extremely worried they're going to be put in a position where they're not able to manage the expectations or even the needs of patients and their families."

Magee, reached on the phone following an overnight shift at Halifax's QEII Health Sciences Centre emergency department, said that often he and his peers must tend to patients in hallways and closets. Wait times can be "extraordinarily" long, he said, adding that patient care is not as good as it could be.

"This is not the care that we wish to provide; it's the best we can do," Magee said. "But we know that in a well-resourced system we would be able to do much better, and that's really tough."

He said the pressure ER staff are under has resulted in stress and long-term exhaustion that have driven many to reduce their working hours or leave the profession. "I've never seen the morale among physicians and nurses and other health-care professionals so low."

Magee said that in order to make meaningful change and improve the situation in ERs, the province must address a number of different problems. The government, he said, should increase access to primary and walk-in care; add more hospital beds; hire more nurses and physicians; and increase the availability of community-health and home-care resources.

"This is a complex problem and there's no one thing that's going to make this better," he said.

Data released Wednesday shows that deaths in Nova Scotia emergency departments were up 10 per cent in 2022 from the previous year. The data, obtained by the Nova Scotia NDP through a freedom of information request, shows that 558 people died in emergency departments across the province in 2022, up from 505 in 2021.

The figures, which cover Nova Scotia's four health zones between 2017 through 2022, show that last year's death toll was the highest during the six years under study.

On Dec. 31, 37-year-old Allison Holthoff died after a seven-hour wait at the Cumberland Regional Health Centre emergency department, in Amherst, N.S. In response to Holthoff's death, Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, the Independent member for Cumberland North, shared on social media a letter she wrote to Premier Tim Houston calling for urgent changes to the Cumberland hospital ER, which is under renovation.

Her proposed plan includes establishing a temporary walk-in clinic adjacent to the ER, placing a health-care worker in the hospital waiting room to monitor patients, and upping the number of nurses working in the emergency department.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2023.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

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N.S. MLA warned of legal action over social media post on woman's hospital death

A Nova Scotia politician has been threatened with legal action after she publicly posted a letter with information about a woman who died in hospital after a seven-hour wait for a doctor.

Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, the Independent member for Cumberland North, told reporters Monday she was advised to take down a letter on her Facebook page that she wrote to Health Minister Michelle Thompson.

In the letter, Smith-McCrossin names 37-year-old Allison Holthoff and describes her as a wife and mother of three who died at the Cumberland Regional Health Centre on Dec. 31.

The Justice Department warned Smith-McCrossin in an email Jan. 6 that the government would consider "all available legal options" if personal health information continues to be disseminated online.

Smith-McCrossin has refused to remove the post and has said she was doing her job advocating for a constituent.

Holthoff's widower, Gunter Holthoff, has told his wife's story to several media outlets and provided specific details of her final hours in hospital.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2023.

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Jan Holthoff - Excited Surfaces No.19, 2015

60 x 42 cm, Kohle auf Papier