Urgent Treatment Centre to Improve Care in Annapolis Royal

People in the Annapolis Royal area will soon have an urgent treatment centre to help them get the care they need.

Urgent treatment centres offer quick, convenient care that is appropriate for many patients who go to a hospital emergency department for treatment. The centres provide care for people with unexpected, non-life-threatening health concerns, such as mild abdominal pain, minor infections, simple fractures and sprains.

The Annapolis Royal centre, which replaces the town’s collaborative emergency centre, will open Wednesday, October 12.

“It’s important to make sure people have consistent access to care in their communities that they can count on. We’re making this change to ensure there is a model that will respond to communities’ needs and that healthcare staff can maintain long term,” said Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson.

The collaborative emergency centre in Annapolis Royal has been closed since July due to staffing issues, and the urgent treatment centre will be a permanent change.

The new centre will be open three days a week. People will be able to get appointments with a physician within a day or two. When making the appointment, they will be assessed by a nurse to ensure they are going to the best place for care.

Nova Scotia Health held public information sessions in Annapolis Royal last week to answer questions about the change.

There are currently two urgent treatment centres in the province – a centre in North Sydney opened last November and one in Parrsboro opened in December. The North Sydney centre has seen more than 5,600 patients since opening, with over 80 per cent able to get a same-day appointment. Patients are reporting they are pleased with the care they received.

Quotes:

“Moving to an urgent treatment centre model will help us better support the urgent and primary care needs of the community in a way that can be reliable and sustainable. There has been plenty of hard work and planning from physicians and teams to put this new service in place to improve services to our patients.”

– Tanya Nixon, Vice-President Operations, Western Zone, Nova Scotia Health

Additional Resources:

Action for Health, the government’s strategic plan to improve healthcare in Nova Scotia: https://novascotia.ca/actionforhealth/