![\"Text](\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Listen to this article<\/p>\n
Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n
The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
Almost three years since her government made a massive health-care infrastructure announcement anchored by a promise of more beds, Health Minister Michelle Thompson says there could be other ways to make good on a commitment to improve services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are committed to improving the health-care system,\u201d Thompson told reporters following a cabinet meeting in Halifax on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re making sure people have the access to care, but as we mature and as we see more digital solutions, there\u2019s lots of different options that perhaps were not contemplated in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those commitments from three years ago, which stretch beyond 2030, have gained renewed attention recently as the NDP has highlighted ongoing strains on services at the Cobequid Community Health Centre<\/a> in Lower Sackville.<\/p>\n Although the government\u2019s 2022 plan<\/a> calls for the site to get a new or expanded emergency department and 36 beds, there\u2019s been no update since. At the time, the plan suggested work could begin sometime in 2025.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Thompson said health officials continue to work on planning for the Cobequid and other sites, including Dartmouth General Hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cI know sometimes it feels like we say that over and over again, but these are huge projects and have impact over generations.”<\/p>\n The beds promised for the Cobequid in 2022 were part of 423 that Premier Tim Houston said would be added to the health-care system in Halifax Regional Municipality across more than six sites during the life of the plan.<\/p>\n Many things can help<\/p>\n But whether the PCs will need fewer beds than what was promised remains to be seen.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a possibility,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n The minister said that as infrastructure planning continues, the government has also introduced other measures to help the system, such as building new long-term care beds<\/a> and a sophisticated computer system that monitors availability of existing hospital beds.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764573130_882_default.jpg\")
Members of the NDP caucus are pushing for an update on a promised expansion at the Cobequid Community Health Centre in Lower Sackville. (Michael Gorman\/CBC)<\/p>\n