Flood at Halifax health facility leads to relocation of recovery services in Yarmouth
Health authority says 5 inpatient mental health beds are being opened at facility
Services at the recovery support centre at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital are being temporarily relocated in order to open five inpatient mental health beds, according to a news release.
The release from Nova Scotia Health said the flood at the Abbie J. Lane Memorial Building in Halifax earlier this month caused a shortage of inpatient mental health beds across the province.
On March 19, the authority said that 20 of 48 beds at the Halifax facility had been taken out of service. Patients had to be moved to another facility or discharged.
Services at the Yarmouth centre, including walk-in support, one-on-one counselling, group sessions and the distribution of harm-reduction supplies, were temporarily relocated starting Friday.
An email from Nova Scotia Health said about 140 people access the centre's services each month. The majority have scheduled appointments.
According to the email, there have been 1,700 appointments at the centre over the past 12 months.
The authority said it did not know when services at the Yarmouth centre would be fully restored.
According to the release, people receiving ongoing care in Yarmouth are being contacted by staff.
It said others can get support by calling the recovery centres at Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Middleton and Fishermen's Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg.
Walk-in clients at the Yarmouth centre can get a virtual appointment with staff from the Middleton and Lunenburg facilities, the release says.
The release said harm-reduction supplies and take-home naloxone will continue to be available through the opioid recovery program at the Yarmouth hospital and at others sites in the western zone.