New health centre, school, nursing home to be built in Cape Breton, premier says

NEW WATERFORD, N.S.—Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has announced a new community health centre, school and nursing home will be built on a single site in the Cape Breton community of New Waterford.

The facilities will be built on the current Breton Education Centre site and share facilities and maintenance services.

The province says the school is 48 years old, and it was determined that replacing it was the best option.

McNeil says the new community health centre will offer many of the same services now provided at the New Waterford Consolidated Hospital, the closure of which he announced during a visit to the area in June 2018.

Those services include X-rays and ultrasounds, blood collection and cardiac services among others, while space will also be created for after-hours clinics.

The new 60-bed, long-term care home will add 36 new beds to the community, and McNeil says construction of the project is to begin in the fall of 2020.

“A community hub model is an exciting and innovative opportunity for New Waterford, because it brings community resources together in one place,” McNeil said in a news release Aug. 2.

“It will also provide more exposure to health-care career options for students and create better connections between seniors in long-term care and their community.”

The new community health centre and long-term care home are part of the hospital redevelopment announced last year for the Sydney, N.S., area.

The redevelopment also includes an expansion of the Cape Breton Regional hospital with a new emergency department, critical care department and cancer centre, and the renovation of the emergency department at the Glace Bay Hospital.

The plan also includes the building of a new health centre and long-term care home in North Sydney to replace the Northside General Hospital.

Dr. Kevin Orrell, senior medical director with the CBRM Health Care Redevelopment Project, welcomed Friday’s announcement for New Waterford.

“It’s an opportunity to have multiple sectors work together collaboratively, share resources and improve health outcomes for people in New Waterford and surrounding communities,” Orrell said.

Also included in the project are 12 new short-stay beds for patients who need observation but not in an acute care setting.

The announcement followed another major health care announcement in Nova Scotia late last month when the province’s department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal said it had shortlisted two build teams for the Halifax Infirmary project.