Latest news with #QEIIHealthSciencesCentre
CBC
03-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
'I have a life back': How ketamine therapy is helping these Nova Scotians find relief from depression
For decades, Sherri Topple's world was overshadowed by the crushing weight of depression that no medication or therapy seemed to fix. It wasn't until she tried ketamine therapy that she finally felt a sense of relief. At her worst, the Nova Scotia woman says she could barely muster up the energy to take a shower. "You look at the shampoo bottle and think, 'It's just too far. I can't reach,'" said Topple. "So you stand there with the water running and cry and think, 'What the heck is wrong with me?'" But after completing a clinical trial through Dalhousie University and receiving five doses of ketamine back in January, she said everything changed. "I have a life back. I have a better life back than what I've ever had," said Topple, who now enjoys painting, gardening and writing — hobbies she wasn't capable of while she was severely depressed. Ketamine is a fast-acting anesthetic used in medical or veterinary surgery. Selling, possessing or producing it in Canada is illegal unless it's authorized for medical or scientific purposes. In more recent years, it's become a tool used to treat severe depression that's been otherwise untreatable. Approximately 20 patients in the province have received ketamine therapy since March 2023, according to Nova Scotia's health authority. Psychiatrist Dr. Abraham Nunes runs the program through the mood disorders clinic at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, but can only administer the infusions on a compassionate basis due to limited resources and funding. Nunes has witnessed first-hand how ketamine therapy has improved the lives of patients like Topple. "It's quite remarkable how it can work, even for people who've been depressed for so long. But it helps them feel so much better that it actually provides them with hope that there is something that can be done," said Nunes. But some might think of ketamine as a club drug that's often used and abused for its hallucinogenic effects. "If you are buying ketamine off the street, using it in an uncontrolled fashion, or if I were to just give people vials of ketamine to take, that would of course be, yeah, a horror story," he said. A medical examiner ruled that ketamine was the primary cause of actor Matthew Perry's death. Perry was using the drug legally through his regular doctor, but he began seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him and buying it illegally, eventually suffering a fatal overdose in 2023. Nunes says the drug is "very safe" when used at a low dose in a medically supervised environment. Because the treatment is not publicly funded in Nova Scotia, Nunes and a handful of other health-care professionals volunteer their time to treat one patient every two weeks. He said the QEII Foundation is currently raising funds to hire two nurses and some administrative staff in order to expand the program, and administer about eight treatments per day for two years as a pilot project. He said from there, they would evaluate the data and seek more stable funding from the government. CBC News asked the Department of Health and Wellness whether it's considering funding ketamine therapy for treatment-resistant depression. In a statement, the department responded that it regularly reviews the procedures and services covered by MSI, Nova Scotia's insurance system, but there are "no plans currently to include ketamine infusion treatment as an insured procedure or ketamine as a benefit under the Nova Scotia Pharmacare Program." Patients like Lisa Herritt could benefit from ketamine therapy becoming part of Nova Scotia's public health system. She was also treated by Nunes, but unlike Topple, Herritt requires infusions on a more regular basis and had to seek treatment beyond what's being offered through the QEII Foundation. She was ultimately referred to a private clinic where she receives ketamine infusions every other week to the tune of $12,000 per year. Although it's expensive, she says going without the treatment is not an option for her. "I feel like I know what would happen, and I would go right back to where I was. And it is a horrible place," said Herritt, who has suffered from depression for more than 22 years since the birth of her first son. She said prior to receiving ketamine, her depression was "insurmountable." Herritt was disengaged from her children's lives and she eventually had to leave her 20-year career as a pharmacist. Herritt had tried many different medications to get her depression under control to no avail. She even tried electroconvulsive therapy until turning to ketamine as a last resort in 2023. She has responded well to the drug and believes that ketamine therapy should be made more accessible to Nova Scotians suffering with the mental illness. "If there's a treatment out there that would work after multiple failures, why wouldn't we do it for people? It's not like you wouldn't treat other illnesses that there's a treatment for," she said. Topple agrees. "Nova Scotians need this … and it needs to be funded. It will save so much pain, so much hurt and it will save a lot of money in unnecessary health care," she said.
CTV News
27-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Blasting complete at QEII Halifax Infirmary construction site, next phase underway
A mobile crane is used to build a tower crane at the Halifax Infirmary site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre on May 12. (Source: Build Nova Scotia) Blasting has been completed at the QEII Halifax Infirmary construction site. The Nova Scotia government says preparation for the new acute care tower on Bell Road will now move to the next phase – mechanically breaking rock that is too close to the existing hospital for safe blasting. The province says the work will take place through the summer. Breaking rock located close to the hospital will not start until 3 p.m. The province says the work is scheduled later in the day to limit the impact on daytime clinical operations. Rock breaking farther from the hospital is scheduled to happen between 6:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. This week, work is scheduled between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sarting Monday, it will take place from 3 p.m. to midnight. The province says the new acute care tower will include: 216 beds 16 operating rooms a 48-bed intensive care unit an emergency department nearly twice the size of the current one a satellite diagnostic imaging department in the emergency department new and upgraded lab spaces additional treatment spaces For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
11-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
QEII redevelopment tender includes possibility of a new hospital
The provincial health authority issued a tender on Thursday for master planning services as part of the continued redevelopment of the QEII Health Sciences Centre, work that could include the development of a new hospital building. The tender calls for project management and architectural services for further redevelopment of buildings on the campus that includes the Halifax Infirmary and the series of buildings around the Victoria General Hospital. The work would also include, "if deemed required by Nova Scotia Health and the province, the development of an additional QEII site (location yet to be determined)," according to the tender. The initial term of the agreement would be for two years, with the health authority having the ability to extend it for an additional year. Submissions are due by May 15. "The objective of this RFP [request for proposal] is to establish a multi-site master plan, resulting in a clear understanding of specific projects that addresses failing/inadequate infrastructure and the changing health care needs of the local community and beyond," tender documents say. Broad scope of work The master planning work is to be delivered in two parts, the first by December and the second by Nov. 1, 2026. The winning bidder will be tasked with an extensive amount of planning that runs the gamut of services provided by the QEII, including: ambulatory care and outpatient clinics; minor procedures and endoscopy; biomedical engineering; cancer care; critical care unit; diagnostic imaging; environmental services; facilities management; heart health; laboratory services; medical device reprocessing; medical/surgical/rehabilitation/mental health inpatients; morgue; nutrition and food services; pharmacy; regional tissue bank; security services; supply chain logistics; and volunteer services. The work also includes a technical building assessment, "which would evaluate and report on the physical condition of the facility, including below-grade tunnels, in order to determine if it has value for future use or requires replacement at a future date." The assessment will also consider the implications of deferring capital investment. In considering the options for development, the report must include: existing facility building constraints; new physical plant requirements; parking demand and transportation impact studies. If the province and health authority determine that master planning for an additional QEII site is needed, that work would require a site selection and land assessment report and a master plan report. First major redevelopment contract signed A former Liberal government started the redevelopment process in 2015, but Premier Tim Houston announced an overhauled version in late 2022 because the Liberal plan could no longer accommodate the population explosion the province experienced following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Progressive Conservative government signed a long-awaited contract earlier this year for the first phase of the Halifax Infirmary redevelopment, work that includes a 14-storey acute care tower with patient beds and operating theatres, an intensive care unit and a new emergency department. The $7.4-billion deal includes construction costs and the operation and maintenance of the site for 30 years. Meanwhile, the life of the Victoria General Hospital continues to be extended until the redevelopment work can be completed. The ailing site has a litany of issues, including water that is not safe for drinking and elevators that do not work. The tender documents released Thursday include a nod to the ongoing trade dispute with the U.S. government. In the section that deals with eligibility, it notes that "the province reserves the right to exclude bids from jurisdictions where unfair trade barriers, including but not limited to tariffs, have been imposed, or as may be justified by national security or similar exceptions."
