Latest news with #NovaScotiaHealthAuthority
CBC
2 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Health authority interim CEO calls for further integration of AI into health care
Social Sharing Nova Scotia needs to merge artificial intelligence into the health-care system by way of a research centre, says the interim CEO of the Nova Scotia Health Authority. At a panel discussion on Friday at the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Karen Oldfield said AI has been introduced to the health-care system in small amounts, but more needs to be done. "We have to lay this foundation," Oldfield said. "But to get to the predictive analytics, to wellness, to precision medicine, we have to have this." Oldfield says that the next logical step for the province is to develop a centre of excellence, meaning a hub dedicated to overseeing and researching AI. Oldfield expanded on this, saying AI would improve clinical efficiency and administration. Oldfield said AI could be used to determine a population or community with a higher likelihood of contracting diseases, like certain kinds of cancer. "If we can predict, then we can get ahead of it," said Oldfield. "That's really where most provinces and most countries want to get.... That's where we need to head." Oldfield says the development of such a centre would be dependent on people more than money. "We need the researchers that are able to use that data …to develop their algorithms that can lead us to predictive analytics and precision medicine," said Oldfield. The proposed AI centre for excellence is only in its early stages. Oldfield says she has had conversations about a centre with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and various members of the federal government.
CBC
21-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Drug alert issued for powerful opioid detected for first time in N.S.
A warning has been issued about the discovery of a powerful drug that's never been previously detected in Nova Scotia's illegal drug stream. It's the second similar public alert posted online by the Nova Scotia Health Authority within the last month. RCMP found N-Pyrrolidino metonitazene, a synthetic opioid known as "brown sugar," during a search they conducted in December in the Amherst, N.S., area as part of an investigation into a stolen dirt bike, an RCMP spokesperson said. Testing at the national drug analysis service laboratory recently confirmed the sample also contained a mix of fentanyl, cocaine, caffeine and a tranquillizer. The drug was also identified in Quebec and Ontario earlier this month. The alert described the drug's appearance as a "brownish rock" with a grainy texture. Rebecca Penn, a harm reduction consultant with Nova Scotia Health, said the opioid is twice as powerful as fentanyl, and warned that mixing opioids and a tranquillizer can slow a person's breathing and heart rate, which can lead to a fatal overdose. Penn said naloxone can counter the effects of the opioid, but more than one dose may be required. However, because naloxone is not effective against cocaine and tranquillizers, she said people should contact emergency services immediately if someone appears to be overdosing. "We have to assume that we don't really know what's going on with what's in the substance that we're consuming," she said. "When you get something from the unregulated supply, there's no label. And so you have no idea what it contains." 'Another crisis' in the province Four Nova Scotians have died from opioid overdoses in 2025, based on preliminary data from the province. Last year, there were 69 confirmed and probable opioid toxicity deaths in Nova Scotia. "This is another crisis that's unfolding in our province," Penn said. Ashley Legere, executive director of the Cumberland Homelessness and Housing Support Association, said the newly found opioid is only one of the drugs on the streets of her community. "Dead people don't get the chance to recover," Legere said. "We want to make sure that every one of our community members gets to stay alive and that we get to support them." Cpl. Troy Gill of Cumberland County RCMP said police are uncertain if this specific drug arrived from New Brunswick but some of Amherst's illegal drug supply does come from that province because of the town's proximity to the border. "Our officers have to be vigilant and the community as well," Gill said. "If they come across these drugs, they must not touch them and they call the authorities right away because of the potency of them." RCMP made the initial drug seizure late last year as part of a search after they arrested a man in the Amherst area in relation to a dirt bike that had previously been reported stolen. Jesse Parlee, 32, of Moncton, N.B., was charged with a slew of offences. He appeared in Amherst provincial court on Feb. 5 and received a sentence of four years in relation to the charges, RCMP confirmed Monday.
CBC
13-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
At 97, Nova Scotia man still cuts 5 cords of wood each year to heat his home
Murray Cook starts his day the same way he's started it for most of his 97 years. He has hot porridge for breakfast, takes a couple of vitamins, and sets out to chop wood and do other chores to maintain his family home at Cooks Cove, just outside of Guysborough, N.S. Outliving the average Nova Scotian by nearly two decades, Cook has defied the odds by avoiding fatty foods and maintaining an active lifestyle. "No drinking and no smoking," he insists as reasons for his longevity. "But the fast-food places — I've seen so many young girls and young boys alike get too much overweight, and then they can't move around. That's my idea of it." A lifetime of activity However, Cook's strict diet is only part of the story. He has pushed his body since he began his working life in the construction sector as a teenager. He joined his family's sawmill operation in Cooks Cove as a young adult, continuing through the facility's conversion into a pulpwood operation until its closure in the 1990s. In the quarter-century following the mill's shutdown, Cook personally planted 15,000 trees in Guysborough and the surrounding communities as he carried out a one-man reforestation project. He annually cuts five cords of firewood, alternating between an axe and larger equipment, to heat the home he built with his father and brother in 1956. Cook has lived alone in this building for the past eight years, with his wife now residing in a long-term care facility in Guysborough as a result of Alzheimer's disease and its accompanying dementia. They met when he spotted her at a Halifax restaurant and took the chance to ask her if he could sit with her for lunch. When they later married, Cook dug gardens in Cooks Cove because his new spouse had always loved flowers. The couple also grew berries that later became the key ingredients in homemade jams and preserves. Beating the odds in his late 90s Cook has never owned a credit card, always pays his debts and still travels to the towns of Antigonish and Port Hawkesbury every 10 days to run errands. Unlike many of his fellow seniors, he is still able to drive at night. His son, Chris Cook, who works for the Nova Scotia Health Authority in nearby Guysborough, says his father is well known for his active living and has become one of his personal heroes. "Sitting down is not something he does — he doesn't even have a TV," the younger Cook said. "He said one time to me, 'I look forward to working every day, and having a sweat. And the body, that's what it's supposed to do — the body is not supposed to be idle.'" If Murray Cook has his way, his body will never be idle.
