HALIFAX, NS – Premier Iain Rankin, today, highlighted the more than $4 billion in spending for new hospitals, emergency care centres, and community health centres that will completely transform the way healthcare is delivered in Nova Scotia. 

From Halifax to Sydney to Yarmouth to Shelburne and to Pugwash, cranes are in the air and shovels are about to start digging to build a stronger healthcare system for Nova Scotians. 

“There has been more modernization in the last year in healthcare than there has been in decades,” said Premier Rankin. “And this modernization will continue under a Liberal government. New equipment, new operating rooms, dialysis units and upgraded emergency departments and more inpatient beds are critical investments in Nova Scotians.” 

Some work is already completed, but other construction, such as the expansion of the Halifax Infirmary, which will allow for services to be moved from the Victoria General, Centennial and Dickson buildings on the Victoria General site of the QEII, will not be finished until the fall of 2026. 

The design is now underway and when the project is complete will transform the health experience for thousands of Nova Scotians. 

Many have been in the VG, and while the care people receive is excellent, the facility needs to be replaced. 

More than $1 billion of the healthcare construction is in Cape Breton. The Cape Breton Redevelopment includes a new cancer centre and a clinical services building at Cape Breton Regional with a women and newborn care program, new emergency department and new surgical services. New health centres and long-term care facilities are being built in New Waterford and at the Northside Health Complex. 

These historic builds are not just bricks and mortar. They represent state-of-the-art operating rooms, modern IT to support virtual care, endoscopy suites, outpatient clinics and day surgery units, inpatient beds, dialysis units, X-ray and ultrasound services and laboratory and diagnostic imaging, and much more. 

And these brand-new facilities will also help to attract more doctors and other healthcare professionals to the province. They will provide care closer to home for many Nova Scotians and there will better patient safety by improving infection protection and control. 

This is a province-wide endeavour; it is not focused on one city, region, or community. 

Here are some of the highlights: 

• Six new dialysis stations at the Digby Regional Hospital; 12 new stations at Valley Regional Hospital. 
• Renovation of two operating rooms at Hants Community Hospital. 
• The Bayers Lake Community Outpatient Centre will offer services such as primary care, diagnostic imaging, an eye care centre, orthopaedic assessment centre and rehabilitation. It is to be completed by 2023. 
• The Halifax Infirmary expansion includes a Cancer Care centre with radiation therapy and ambulatory cancer clinics; an inpatient centre with new operating rooms, critical care beds, inpatient beds, diagnostic services and rental dialysis. It is expected to be completed by 2026. 
• As part of the $1 billion Cape Breton Redevelopment, there will be new health centres and long-term care facilities at the Northside Health Complex and New Waterford Hub. The health centres will offer cardiac services, X-ray and ultra-sound services, as well as mental health services. The long-term care facilities will each have 60 long-term care beds and 12 shorter stay beds. 
• The Cape Breton Redevelopment also includes expanding and renovating the emergency department at the Glace Bay Hospital and major renovations to its surgical suites and inpatient beds. 
• At Cape Breton Regional Hospital there will be the new Cancer Centre, a new emergency department, critical care services and inpatient units. In addition, there will be a new biomass energy centre to replace the existing plant that has reached the end of its lifecycle. 
• And a Liberal government will commit to funding the operation of a PET scan for the new Cancer Center at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital. 
• The Roseway Hospital in Shelburne has been completed and includes a brand-new patient focused collaborative care Primary Health Medical Clinic. 
• In Pugwash, a new health-care facility will replace the old one. It will provide urgent and emergency care, inpatient short stay care, laboratory and diagnostic imaging, rehabilitation services and ambulatory care. 
• The South Shore Regional Hospital is being expanded and renovated to include day surgery, an emergency department, dialysis unit and endoscopy. 

“Our Liberal government is delivering on this important renewal of our healthcare system,” said Premier Rankin. “Previous NDP and Conservative governments failed to. We are prepared to make those investments and that’s why you see historic increases in our last budget.” 

Since 2017, the Liberal government has increased healthcare spending by $1 billion.