Ottawa will provide Nova Scotia with 355-million-dollars to improve access to health care after the province joined PEI, BC, and Alberta in signing a federal health accord.

The federal government says Nova Scotia plans to use the money to make sure 88 per cent of people in the province have access to primary care, by expanding clinic hours in rural communities and introducing mobile health services and virtual urgent care.

Another key element of the deal is to make patient records more available by creating a single provincial health-records system.

 

 

New numbers from Statistics Canada show people without private or employer-sponsored drug coverage aren’t following through with their prescriptions due to financial limitations.

The study found the issue affected both those who have no coverage at all as well as people who have some coverage through provincial or existing federal prescription programs.

The results of the study come as the New Democrats and the government negotiate the broad principles that will shape a federal pharmacare program.

 

 

New Glasgow Regional Police have identified two people believed to be responsible for vandalism in New Glasgow.

The acts of vandalism saw several buildings and structures targeted with graffiti slogans in black paint.

The graffiti took place on Tuesday January 2 at approximately 2:00 a.m..

Residents are to report to police any type of vandalism they may have experienced.

A 17-year-old is facing numerous charges after a Halifax police officer was dragged by a vehicle during a traffic stop.

Police say it happened Tuesday night while the officer was arresting the driver of an unregistered vehicle who was also prohibited from driving.   The driver reportedly accelerated the vehicle with the officer caught in the door frame.

Police say the officer was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

 

 

The Nova Scotia government says the first 19 Pallet shelter homes for unhoused people will be ready for occupation sometime next month.  In October, the province announced it would spend 7.5-million dollars to buy 200 shelters produced by Pallet, a North American shelter provider.  About 100 are to be set up at various locations in the Halifax area in so-called villages with access to electricity, washrooms, laundry and on-site support.  The units are single occupancy and have bed frames, mattresses and desks, and the first 19 will be set up in Lower Sackville.