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A day after the auditor general criticized how sole-source contracts are used in health-care spending, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and other government officials toured a facility that represents the most expensive example.
Houston, Health Minister Michelle Thompson and others were on hand Wednesday to tour the second wing of the transitional care centre in West Bedford. The 110-bed addition will begin accepting patients next week, and brings the total number of beds in the facility to 178.
“When we have this whole facility open, we will save over 60,000 hospital bed days a year,” Jason Shannon, president of Shannex, told reporters.
Shannex has a 25-year contract to operate the site, with an option to renew for an additional 10 years. The company purchased the property from the province and constructed the addition after making an unsolicited proposal.
AG’s concerns about process
The province’s auditor general has raised concerns about the project, which started as an unfinished hotel construction site the province bought from a private developer in 2023 with the intention of converting it to a health-care facility itself.
While the deal with Shannex could be worth as much as $2.7 billion over its lifetime, Houston has stood by the process his government used. Shannex completed the work on schedule and on budget, and the site will provide a place for patients to continue to recover before returning home, while freeing up acute care hospital beds for patients who really need them.
Acute care beds are more expensive to operate, but are often occupied by non-acute patients or people awaiting a nursing home placement.
Houston said the addition of the West Bedford site to the health-care system allows for a better use of hospital beds.
“It’s a very efficient way to deliver really good care to people,” he told reporters.
Avoiding unnecessary ED visits
The site includes rehabilitation gyms, four transition-to-home apartments that allow patients to test their independence, shared dining and common spaces, and dedicated space for classrooms and community programming.
When the initial 68 beds opened at the end of 2024, the focus was on receiving patients from hospitals. But as things have progressed, it’s started accepting patients from the community when an acute care bed is not what they require.
“We want to avoid unnecessary emergency department presentations,” said Dr. Christy Bussey, chief medical officer at Shannex.
Bussey said someone who doesn’t have a nursing home placement but needs more care than they can get at home might require a hospital bed. The transitional care centre creates another option.
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