Nova Scotia hospital postpones appointments following flood

The Nova Scotia Health Authority has said that the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre will continue “with a higher volume of surgeries starting Monday,” following a flood last week that also caused the postponement of 140 of 190 outpatient eye appointments.

On the evening of Sept. 24, a pipe on the 5th floor of the centre’s Centennial building, Victoria General site failed, affecting that floor and the floors below on the east side of the building, the Nova Scotia Health Authority said in a Q&A backgrounder on Friday. The water flow was stopped late in the evening on Sept. 24, but the “damage is extensive on the affected floors.”

The backgrounder said that the risk of exposure to Legionella from flood water (not aerosolized) is considered “extremely low.” Legionella is contracted by inhaling water vapour carrying the bacteria or sucking in affected water into the lungs.

The health authority originally reported that approximately 50 patients were affected, some elective surgeries were postponed and many eye clinic appointments and procedures were impacted. In a statement issued on Sunday, the health authority said that 140 of 190 outpatient eye appointments on Monday were postponed and the “status of eye clinic appointments later in the week is still being determined.”

The Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre said that it is increasing the number of surgeries from Friday and that “surgeons will be completing cases based on resources available and which resources patients require. “This may mean some people will still have their case postponed, while others will go ahead, particularly if they can go home on the same day,” the statement said, adding that “safe patient care is the main factor in making these decisions.”

Maintenance staff continue to assess the level of damage at the Victoria General site, the statement said, including sampling walls for moisture levels to determine what will be required to repair the damage. “A full assessment of damage and timeline for repairs will take some time before it is complete,” the statement noted. “We expect that it will be a prolonged period of time before the affected areas resume normal operation.”