Overcrowded Dartmouth General moves patients

The Capital District Health Authority is dealing with overcrowding at the Dartmouth General Hospital after 19 admitted patients were without a bed on Wednesday.

John Gillis, a spokesman for the Capital District Health Authority, said the hospital typically runs at 95 or 100 per cent capacity.

"In terms of patients who were admitted and waiting for beds, it would be pretty typical to see three or four — 19 is a large number," Gillis told CBC News.

"When you've got every bed full plus 19 people needing beds, you're approaching 120 per cent capacity."

Gillis said he couldn't explain the spike in patients needing beds on Wednesday.

Several surgeries were cancelled at the Dartmouth General Hospital to free up beds that would otherwise have been filled by those patients recovering from surgery.

"That's one of the only ways that we can manage the incoming patients," said Gillis.

"One way we can keep beds open is by cancelling surgeries, which isn't something we like to do but it's really one of the only steps to take."

Gillis said some of the patients were moved to units in the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, the Hants Community Hospital in Windsor and the Twin Oaks Memorial Hospital in Musquodoboit Harbour.

"They brought together a team in the hospital today to try and reduce some pressure so they were working with other hospitals in the district," he said.

"That's something that happens all the time but there was some extra pressure to do that today."