Helping patients get care faster: C3 Transfer Hub marks one year of impact

Nova Scotia Health’s Care Coordination Centre (C3) Transfer Hub is now a year old and there are already significant improvements to how quickly patients are moving through their healthcare journey.

By providing a real-time view of patient flow across the province, C3 is helping connect patients with the care they need, when they need it.

One year after launching its Provincial Transfer Hub, C3 -- in collaboration with Emergency Health Services (EHS) – co-ordinated more than 72,000 patient transfers, about 10,000 more than the previous year.

And there were 2,432 more after-hours transfers compared to the year before, marking a 16 per cent increase year-over-year.  

What began as a new approach to managing patient flow has quickly become an integral part of healthcare operations across Nova Scotia.

Operating with a provincial view of hospital capacity and patient movement, the team has helped remove barriers that can delay transfers, including communication gaps, limited visibility of resources, and lengthy co-ordination processes.

The impact extends well beyond the numbers.  

By creating a centralized provincial hub, C3 has strengthened collaboration and communication between healthcare teams, resulting in faster and smoother transfers for patients who need specialized care, diagnostic services or treatment in another hospital.

The Transfer Hub has also made significant improvements outside of regular daytime operations.  

With dedicated staff supporting transfers around the clock, patients can continue their care journey more efficiently, regardless of the time of day.

These improvements are helping patients get the right level of care quicker.

When transfers happen sooner, patients can move to the hospital or service that best meets their care needs, creating a smoother experience for patients, families and healthcare teams.

The Transfer Hub also helps hospitals make better use of available beds and resources across the province. By co-ordinating transfers efficiently, it supports patient flow and helps reduce bottlenecks that can contribute to longer waits, including in emergency departments.

By quickly bringing together the right information and the right people at the right time, the Transfer Hub is streamlining the co-ordination of patient moves, reducing delays and helping patients receive care sooner.

"We often see how staff and patients are waiting, sometimes simply waiting for a phone call to move a patient to the next step in their care journey," said Andrea Munster, senior director of C3. "We've created new tools, including online systems that reduce call volumes and make it easier for teams to co-ordinate transfers. The goal is to create processes that support frontline staff, improve communication and help patients get where they need to be more efficiently."

The Transfer Hub works closely with frontline healthcare teams, zone-based C3 teams and Emergency Health Services (EHS), creating stronger connections across the province's healthcare network.  

This collaborative approach ensures that transfer decisions are made efficiently and that patients experience fewer delays when moving between facilities. The success of the Transfer Hub demonstrates what can happen when innovation, collaboration and a patient-first approach come together.

As the C3 Provincial Transfer Hub marks its first anniversary, the results are clear, : better co-ordination, stronger communication, more timely transfers and a healthcare system that is working more effectively for Nova Scotians.  

The team continues to build on this success, finding new ways to support frontline staff and improve the experience of patients and families across the province.

Want to learn more about C3? Explore more here: Care Coordination Centre (C3) | Nova Scotia Health

Photo of (L-R) Katou Gabanna, Darcie Bellefontaine and Caleb Nanji.