South Shore Regional Hospital redevelopment opening strengthens access to care for local communities

BRIDGEWATER, NS – Patients and families across Nova Scotia’s South Shore will benefit from new and redeveloped spaces at South Shore Regional Hospital (SSRH), as part of the ongoing efforts to modernize care and expand key services closer to home.

An event was held today to celebrate the redevelopment’s phased opening, including the new emergency department and renal dialysis unit along with expanded and upgraded spaces for endoscopy services. The hospital’s first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suite opened earlier this year. Together, these improvements strengthen the ability of teams at SSRH to provide timely, accessible care to Nova Scotians.

“Across Nova Scotia, we are making historic investments to modernize healthcare facilities, expand services, and improve access to care,” said Premier Tim Houston. “Today, on the South Shore, we celebrate another milestone in our commitment to improve access to healthcare for Nova Scotians. A new emergency department, renal dialysis unit and upgraded endoscopy spaces will strengthen care for people across the region.”

The new SSRH emergency department opens to patients at 6 a.m., Wednesday, October 7. People coming to the emergency department must use the new East Entrance, just a short distance from the old emergency department entrance. The new renal dialysis unit and new endoscopy suite are slated to open later in October. Patients with appointments will receive information about the new location for these services. 

“It is so exciting to finally be ready to move in and start providing care to patients in these new spaces,” said Dr. Nicole Boutilier, CEO, Nova Scotia Health. “Staff, physicians and teams have done plenty of planning and preparation in order to safely transition into their new work areas in a way that will minimize disruption for patients and families.” 

The SSRH redevelopment project required significant coordination, patience and flexibility from staff, physicians, patients, families, neighbours of the hospital and community partners. Even with this phased opening of the new spaces, the redevelopment project is not over as work will still be taking place around the site to repurpose the former spaces.

Nova Scotia Health and provincial government are thankful for the contribution of the South Shore Health Foundation, its donors and community supporters who were vital in the success of this redevelopment project. 

“Today marks an exciting milestone for healthcare on the South Shore. Through our Brighter Days campaign, our community came together to raise more than $10.8 million in support of this redevelopment, and it is incredibly rewarding to see that generosity become a reality for patients, families and healthcare teams,” said Arleen Stevens, CEO, South Shore Health Foundation. “We are proud to have played a role in helping bring these new spaces and services to our community, and deeply grateful to everyone who chose to invest in the health and wellbeing of our community for generations to come.”