The province has been moving away from designated COVID-19 units for some time. The last ones were closed in mid-July. It now uses a “care-in-place” model, meaning all patients will be treated in whichever hospital unit or facility meets their needs, regardless of their COVID-19 status. Patients with COVID-19 are placed in a private room or shared with other patients who have the virus or have recently recovered from it, said Dr. Shelly McNeil, senior medical director of COVID planning and implementation for Nova Scotia Health. Patients with COVID-19 must wear masks when outside their rooms and are only allowed out of their rooms for necessary tests and procedures. McNeil called it a “gradual evolution” of the healthcare system’s response to COVID-19. “We’re seeing a shift in patients who tend to be medically complex, so they have multiple underlying medical problems, and COVID is pushing them to the edge, so to speak, of other medical problems,” McNeil said. Dr. Shelly McNeil, the senior medical director of COVID-19 planning and implementation with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, said the move is part of the evolution of COVID-19 care. (CBC) “It may be exacerbating their underlying lung disease, or their underlying heart disease, or other things. So they don’t need the same type of intensive respiratory support that we saw in the early stages of the pandemic.” The removal of the COVID-19 units means there are larger designated beds for COVID-19 patients. These beds are placed in the regular rotation of medical and hospital services, ideally improving the flow of patients through the hospital. “There’s been a lot of pressure on the emergency department, a lot of patient volume for a lot of different problems. So we still have, of course, significant flow challenges. We’re just hoping that by doing that, it will improve the impact that COVID would have on those challenges,” he said. A COVID-19 doctor advisory service has been set up in each health zone, available 24 hours a day, to support clinical decision-making for patients with the virus, including whether to move to the ICU in cases of severe illness. The seven-day quarantine period for Nova Scotia Health employees; who tested positive for the virus remains in place, as does the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. McNeil said NSH will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and re-evaluate operational plans as needed, which could include bringing back designated COVID-19 units if the situation worsens.
