South Shore Health is one of 19 Canadian teams participating in the INSPIRED Approaches to COPD Collaborative that is being offered in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim as announced today by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement.

South Shore Health’s INSPIRED-like COPD program is a quality initiative focusing on implementing care pathways for patients who are hospitalized with exacerbations of moderate to severe COPD. It includes implementing clinical care guidelines; applying a coordinated, interdisciplinary approach; and providing health provider and patient education. It will build and strengthen the linkages between primary health care, acute care, and home care and other community-based supports. The project will be piloted at South Shore Regional Hospital before being implemented across the entire District.

In recognition of National Cervical Cancer Awareness Week there will be a pap clinic at South Shore Regional Hospital on October 28. Women who do not currently have a primary care provider or have not had a pap smear in more than three years are encouraged to make an appointment. For more information or to book an appointment call the Women’s Wellness Clinic at 527-5214.

The Nova Scotia hospital information system is scheduled for an important upgrade on November 4 and 5, 2014. This will impact services at all South Shore Health facilities.

On November 4 & 5, the following services WILL NOT be available:

• Walk-in blood collection service (including clinics in Chester and North Queens, specimen drop off & * water testing)
  (Water testing unavailable Nov. 3 to 7)
• Walk-in diagnostic imaging (X-ray and ECG)

All emergency care services will continue to be available.

The hospital computer system will not be available during the upgrade so patients may experience delays in registration.

To minimize delays, please ensure you have your Nova Scotia health card when accessing health services.

People with scheduled appointments at hospital-based clinics or services should arrive at least 30 minutes before the appointment.

South Shore Health regrets any inconvenience this may cause.

South Shore Health has been participating with the Department of Health and Wellness and our partners across the province in planning for a possible or a confirmed case of Ebola. While the risk of Ebola in Nova Scotia remains extremely low, system readiness is a priority.

Part of our ongoing preparations includes testing our processes. To that end, South Shore Health will be conducting exercises at Queens General Hospital Emergency Department this week. The exercises will occur at 11 am and 8:45 pm, December 4 and will involve staff members from a number of different areas including the emergency department and housekeeping.

Additional training and testing will take place in the coming weeks.

The planning we are doing for Ebola builds on plans and protocols that are already in place, and will further enhance our preparedness and response for any future infectious disease situations.

For more information about Ebola visit http://novascotia.ca/dhw/cdpc/ebola.asp

12:15 am December 11, 2014

Power has been restored to the fourth floor at South Shore Regional Hospital and the CT scanner is also up and running.

All hospital services will be operating as normal on Thursday December 11.

We appreciate the quick response of our staff and physicians as well as local police and fire departments, Emergency Health Services and others who assisted in the response.