Pictou County mother worried about shockingly long ER wait

Pictou – A Pictou County mother is speaking out after waiting 17 hours with her sick 10-month-old at the Aberdeen Hospital. Amber Clark was shocked by how long she had to wait and how busy the emergency department was recently when she took her son to get care.

“We had tried to keep our son comfortable at home, but with his chest congestion getting worse and his breathing being a concern we called 811 who said we should go to the ER,” Clark said. “While I expected to wait, I never thought I would be there overnight and have to wait 17 hours with a sick baby. The staff were doing their best, and I’m so thankful to the workers who were there to help us out, but it really says something about the state of health care in Nova Scotia that there were so many people waiting so long to get the health care they needed.”

After her 17-hour wait Clark and her son were seen and sent home with medication to help him recover.

About 35 percent of ER patients at the Aberdeen Hospital don’t have a family doctor. In 2023, over 3700 patients left the Aberdeen ER without being seen.

“This is the reality we’re seeing about emergency medicine across Nova Scotia,” said NSNDP Leader Claudia Chender. “Every statistic represents a person and family like Amber. The Houston government was elected on a promise to fix health care. However, by almost every measure things are getting worse. We need to massively invest in collaborative family doctor clinics across the province where people can get care in person from a doctor or health team and ensure ERs have the resources they need.”

Chender and the NSNDP Caucus are in Pictou today for an out-of-town Caucus meeting.

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