N.B. now accepting P.E.I. patients in need of vascular surgery as N.S. will longer take them

While it’s not unusual for patients from neighbouring provinces to get treatment across the region, there’s been frustration among surgeons that the change happened quickly and they weren’t well consulted. At one time, the care of these patients was shared by both N.B. and N.S. After some time when all cases were seen in N.S., their care was switched to N.B. through an agreement by the three provinces. Nova Scotia Health says N.B. didn’t have the ability or capacity to provide this care for a time and now that they do, P.E.I. patients can receive the required care closer to home by being seen there. Since then, the province has been treating one to two P.E.I. patients weekly. The wait time for the surgery in N.B. can range from two months to over a year.