Liverpool emergency department closed all week; drop-in clinics planned

Sign points to hospital emergency room entrance

Queens General Hospital. Photo Ed Halverson

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed until Friday (Aug. 2) at 8 a.m.

Nova Scotia Health announced the temporary closure in a news release on Sunday.

No reason was given for the closure, but in the past officials have blamed staffing shortages.

The ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open.

Patients of Queens Family Health can access the same-day clinic, depending on provider availability, by calling 902-354-3322.

A mobile primary care clinic is scheduled to be at Queens General on Tuesday (July 30) from 1 to 4 p.m., Wednesday (July 31) from 1 to 4 p.m. and on Thursday (Aug. 1) from 9 a.m. to noon.

Emergency department in Liverpool on limited hours until Wednesday

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed at various times this weekend. (Communications Nova Scotia)

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be on limited hours for the weekend and early next week.

It will be closed on Friday, Saturday (July 20), Sunday (July 21), Monday (July 22) and Tuesday (July 23) at 1:30 p.m. each day and reopen at 8 a.m. the next day.

For example, it will reopen on Saturday at 8 a.m., but close again at 1:30 a.m. and reopen Sunday at 8 a.m.

The ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open.

Nova Scotia Health says that anybody experiencing a medical emergency should call 911.

Patients of the Queens Family Health same-day clinic can call 902-354-3322 to book an appointment through the week for new and emerging health problems, depending on provider availability.

You can also talk to a nurse for general health advice by calling 811, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Temporary closures this week at Queens General ER

Sign points to hospital emergency room entrance

Queens General Hospital. Photo Ed Halverson

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed at certain times this week.

It closed at 1:30 p.m. on Monday and will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. It will close again on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. and reopen Wednesday at 8 a.m.

Patients of Queens Family Health can call 902-354-3322 to access the same-day clinic, depending on provider availability.

The ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open.

As of June 1, 1,100 people in Queens County, about 10 per cent of the population, were still without a doctor or nurse practitioner. In Bridgewater, 6,382 people were on the waitlist. That’s almost 23 per cent of their population.

Liverpool emergency department on reduced hours Saturday to Tuesday

Sign points to hospital emergency room entrance

Queens General Hospital. Photo Ed Halverson

UPDATED 3:53 p.m. Friday

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be on reduced hours from Saturday to Tuesday.

The ER will be closed from 5 a.m. Saturday (July 6) to 8 a.m. Sunday. It will close again at 1:30 p.m. Sunday and reopen Tuesday (July 9) at 8 a.m.

The emergency department at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open.

Patients of Queens Family Health can access the same-day clinic through the week, depending on provider availability, by calling 902-354-3322.

Emergency department temporary closures at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed at various times this weekend. (Communications Nova Scotia)

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed at 1:30 p.m. on Friday until 8 a.m. Sat., June 29

It will close again at 1:30 p.m. on Sun., June 30 and reopen Mon., July 1 at 8 a.m.

The ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open.

Nova Scotia Health advises people experiencing a medical emergency to call 911. For general health advice, people can contact 811 to speak to a registered nurse 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Patients of Queens Family Health can call the same-day clinic through the week for new and emerging conditions at 902-354-3322. Hours are based on provider availability.

Temporary closures this week at Queens General ER

Sign points to hospital emergency room entrance

Queens General Hospital. Photo Ed Halverson

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and reopen Thursday at 8 a.m.

Nova Scotia Health advises people experiencing a medical emergency to call 911.

Patients of Queens Family Health can access the same-day clinic, depending on provider availability, by calling 902-354-3322.

The emergency department at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater is open.

Temporary closures at Queens General ER in Liverpool starting Wednesday

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed at various times over this week. (Communications Nova Scotia)

Here is when the emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed over the next week:

  •     from 1:30 p.m. Wed., May 22, to Thurs., May 23 at 8 a.m.
  •     from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fri., May 24
  •     from 5 a.m. Sat., May 25 to Sun., May 26 at 8 a.m.
  •     from 1:30 p.m. Tues., May 28 to Wed., May 29 at 8 a.m.

Nova Scotia Health advises people with urgent medical needs to call 911. Patients of Queens Family Health can access the same-day clinic from Monday to Friday by calling 902-354-3322. Clinic hours are based on staff availability.

The ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open.

Liverpool ER closures Thursday, Sunday

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool closed on Thursday at 5 a.m. and will reopen on Friday at 8 a.m.

It will close again at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday and reopen Monday at 6 p.m.

The ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open. Nova Scotia Health advises anyone with urgent medical needs to call 911.

Patients of Queens Family Health can access the same-day clinic through the week for new and emerging health problems at 902-354-3322.

Nova Scotia Health gave no reason for the temporary closure of the Liverpool ER, but in the past officials have blamed staffing shortages.

Liverpool ER to be closed this weekend

Sign points to hospital emergency room entrance

Queens General Hospital. Photo Ed Halverson

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed this weekend.

The ER will close on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and reopen Monday at 8 a.m., according to an advisory from Nova Scotia Health.

The emergency department at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open,

Nova Scotia Health advises anyone with urgent medical needs to call 911.

The mental health and addictions crisis line can also be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 1-888-429-8167.

Queens County to add more housing with $21-million water, sewer expansion

Kim Masland, Queens MLA and Nova Scotia’s public works minister, announces $10.7 million in provincial funding for a $21.5-million water and sewer expansion that gives the green light to two new housing developments in the Liverpool area. (Rick Conrad)

The Nova Scotia government and the Region of Queens are teaming up on a $21.5-million project to extend and improve water and sewer services in the Liverpool area.

Queens MLA Kim Masland on Monday announced $10.7 million in provincial funding to expand water and wastewater service to the Mount Pleasant area. The region will pitch in $10.8 million. 

The project means that two new private housing developments will go ahead on more than 60 acres of land. About 325 new housing units will be built for up to 1,200 people. It will be a mix of sold and rented space. About a third of those units could be affordable housing.

Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s public works minister, made the announcement at the region’s municipal offices in Liverpool on behalf of John Lohr, the minister of municipal affairs and housing. 

“We need this funding, we know our community’s growing, we certainly need affordable and more housing stock within our community,” she said in an interview after the announcement.

“We’re attracting people to our community every day, there are med professionals that want to come here. This is a great project. This will allow us to build more houses.”

Masland said a municipal housing needs assessment found that Queens County needs 555 more housing units by the end of 2027. She said it’s difficult to recruit health care staff to move to the area if there’s nowhere to live.

“We need people building faster. We need homes up, we need places for people to live. We are in a housing crisis in the province and we’re going to do whatever we can to make sure we can help.”

The funding will also improve existing water and sewer services to more than 1,200 homes and businesses in the area, and help improve the amount of water available for firefighting efforts.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman emphasized that the funding will do more than help developers build new homes.

She said the current infrastructure is at or over capacity. The project will improve service for residents in Liverpool, Brooklyn and Milton.

“There are some really crucial repairs that need to be made to our system, so it can expand in all directions. This is not case-specific for specific people.”

The provincial portion of the funding comes from the $102-million Municipal Capital Growth Program. The region applied in December for the funding.

Norman said the region’s finance staff are working now to figure out how the municipal portion will be funded. The region is currently working on its 2024/25 budget.

Adam Grant, the region’s director of engineering and public works, said Monday he hopes the work will be finished in 24 to 36 months.

“So work is already underway. Following the feasibility study, we’ve migrated into some design work preliminary and that’s underway right now, looking at having designs rolled out in the fall and construction starting in the next 12 months ideally.”

The developers behind the two housing projects said Monday they were excited by the news. They’ve lobbied the municipality for the past few years to extend water and sewer services to those areas.

Both projects are near downtown Liverpool.

Larry Cochrane plans an 87-unit development on the old Dauphinee Farm property near Queens General Hospital, which would include a 24-unit apartment building.

He said he will soon begin the design phase of the project.

“I wish it was faster of course, but we’ll take that because there’s lots of work I need to do to get ready to start a project like this.”

Graham van der Pas is a partner with Rumclo Developments. They plan a three-stage development on about 30 acres of land farther up the road from Cochrane’s project.

“We’re very, very excited. We’ve been lobbying for this for the past two years. So it’s amazing.”

The Rumclo development will feature The Point, which will have 124, two-bedroom homes for sale, The Curve, with 22 three-bedroom townhouses, and Birchwood Gardens, 82 affordable rental apartments. Van der Pas said the affordable rentals will be 80 per cent of the median market rate. A one-bedroom would be about $800 a month, a two-bedroom $1,000 and a three-bedroom would rent for $1,200.

A section of The Curve will also be reserved for staff from Queens General Hospital to rent.

“I think a community like this needs it,” van der Pas said. 

“I think what our developments will bring to the town is … a significant amount of property taxes. The revenue will go up there, the economic revenue of people potentially starting businesses, new patrons for the businesses that are already existing. It’s significant.”

Ashley Christian, president of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce, said she’s happy that such a big investment is being made in Queens.

“We have been advocating through the chamber of commerce for more housing for a couple of years. So we’re so excited to see this huge investment, especially made by the municipality, really impressed by that.”

Christian said she’s especially happy that half the funding is coming from the province. She said she hopes that means the project won’t be a big burden on municipal taxpayers.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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