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New Brunswick
SAINT
JOHN — Nursing
home shortfall no surprise Elderly patients in
the Saint John area have no place to go because the
government failed to heed the warning from a 1998 discussion
paper that an additional 150 beds would be needed by
2005, says Saint John gerontologist Dr Pam Jarrett.
In response, Family and Community Services Minister
Tony Huntjens responded that the government may consider
converting some hospital wings into nursing care facilities
to accommodate the growing need. JC
FREDERICTON
—
Premier unimpressed
Premier Bernard Lord says that Prime Minister
Paul Martin's one-time transfer payment of $2 billion
for healthcare in New Brunswick is "insufficient." Mr
Lord added that he was looking forward to the next first
minister's meeting scheduled for this summer, as it
will focus specifically on healthcare funding, but noted
that most Canadians were interested in better healthcare
and not "better meetings." JC
Prince Edward Island
SUMMERSIDE
—
A
princely new hospital The opening date for the
long-awaited new Prince County Hospital in Summerside
has been announced. Project director Herman McQuaid
announced that the hospital will be open to patients
on Sunday, April 4. It will have a host of new equipment,
from imaging to cardiac monitors to catering. Also there
will be a new patient television system. BM
CHARLOTTETOWN
— Sprucing
up the endoscopes With
the contribution of $400,000 from the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital Foundation, the endoscopic unit at the QEH
can now compete with the rest of Atlantic Canada. The
money will go toward much-needed new equipment and materials.
"We've always had endoscopic equipment here over the
years, but it's expensive, and newer technologies are
being used more widely," said Dr Kent Ellis, chair of
the equipment drive for the foundation. BM
Nova Scotia
HALIFAX
— Potential
new cancer discovery at Dal Dalhousie University
medical researcher Rengaswami Rajaraman has discovered
an entirely new form of cancer cell division. The division
pattern -- termed neosis -- is counter to the current
accepted genesis of cancer cells, involving the inheritance
of faulty genetic information. In neosis, large and
multinucleate cells bud off smaller cells, in a process
similar to yeast. The smaller cells become cancerous.
A report is in next month's issue of Cancer Biology
& Therapy. BH
HALIFAX
— $10m
to clear hospital bottleneck The Nova Scotia
government has committed an immediate $10 million to
help unclog the patient logjam in the emergency room
of the QEII Health Sciences Centre, and to shorten the
long waiting time for orthopaedic surgery. The money
will reopen 25 acute surgical-care beds and open a new
operating room by late summer. A recent study showed
that 7,500 people are currently queued for orthopaedic
surgery, with waiting times running up to two years.
BH
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Newfoundland
ST.
JOHN'S — Cervical
cancer deaths rising A high rate of cervical
cancer deaths has prompted the Newfoundland and Labrador
medical association to encourage women to have annual
pap tests. A report released by the Centre for Health
Information says cervical cancer was responsible for
3.9 deaths per 100,000 in 1997, higher than the national
rate of 1.5 per 100,000. Current national guidelines
recommend one to three years, depending on patient risk
factors. DSS
ST
JOHN'S — Homecare
workers become unionized The Newfoundland
and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees
(NAPE) has obtained certification to represent 829 homecare
workers employed by 14 agencies. NAPE currently has
about 20,000 members. Its goal is to also represent
5,000 to 6,000 homecare workers, who were previously
not unionized, including some 2,000 employed by private
individuals with government financial assistance. DSS
Yukon
WHITEHORSE
— Long-term
funding The Yukon
has already decided how to spend their $1.8 million
share of the $2 billion funding surplus recently announced
by Prime Minister Paul Martin. Health and Social Services
Minister Peter Jenkins announced much-needed extra long-term
care beds, as well as extra staff, for two Whitehorse
continuing care facilities. Seven beds will be provided
to Macaulay Lodge and 12 new beds in Copper Ridge Place.
TT
Nunavut
IQALUIT
— No
consent forms for NIHBs Health Canada has scrapped
a controversial plan to require First Nations and Inuit
people to sign consent forms in order to receive non-insured
health benefits (NIHB) like prescriptions and eyeglasses.
The forms have been in place since 2000, but compliance
has been low. Health Canada says it wanted to use personal
information from medical records to track prescription
drug abuse. TT
Northwest
Territories
YELLOWKNIFE
— Northern
campaign against meningitis The NWT government
has begun a mass-immunization to counter meningitis.
Twelve thousand shots are set to be administered before
the Arctic Winter Games in March. The vaccine drive
will focus on young people between the ages of 14 and
20, who are most at risk. The territory's chief medical
officer announced the plan after a teen from the Sahtu
region died last year after contracting the bacteria
that can cause meningitis. TT
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