December 1, 2017
People in Pugwash, N.S., hope a new health-care facility they've been fighting almost a decade to receive will draw more doctors to the area.
The Nova Scotia government announced Friday a $1.1-million contract to design the new facility has been awarded to Architecture49. It's hoped preliminary designs will be done this spring and construction can start in the spring of 2019.
The facility will offer primary health services, collaborative emergency care, laboratory and diagnostic imaging, inpatient care, and rehabilitation services, the province said in a news release.
"It's basically a buyer's market in terms of health-care providers and doctors coming out. They can look around. So if it's an area with a new facility, we're more likely to help attract health-care providers," said Peter Lewis, chair of an ad hoc committee that's sought a new health-care facility for Pugwash.
Lewis said the committee has been pushing to replace the 50-year-old North Cumberland Memorial Hospital for about 10 years.
"It's been a long effort by the community," he said.