N.S. Health officials mum on details about Halifax ER power outage

Details about a power outage last week at the province's biggest emergency department remain mostly in the dark.

Nova Scotia Health issued a public notice Friday evening following a partial power failure, saying that the Halifax Infirmary would only be accepting patients with life-threatening emergencies. The site resumed normal operations about two hours later.

Health authority officials refused an interview request on Monday.

In an email, a spokesperson attributed the outage to "an internal power disruption" that affected the site's battery backup system. Whatever the problem was with the battery system, it's since been repaired, according to the email.

The health authority would not say what parts of the emergency department were affected, nor would officials say if ongoing construction work on the property related to hospital redevelopment had anything to do with the outage.

Opposition MLAs left with questions

Backup generators are normally activated when the power that feeds into the hospital is knocked out.

"Street power was never impacted, or the generators would have kicked in," the health authority spokesperson said in an email. "The issue was with the uninterrupted power supply."

NDP health critic Rod Wilson, who is also a medical doctor, said the situation leaves him with questions and he thinks health authority officials owe the public more explanation.

"People will understand if there's a system failure if they're treated with respect and given information," he said.

"But [people] won't be forgiving if you hide things."

If Nova Scotia Health officials won't talk about the power outage, he's left to wonder what else they will not discuss, Wilson said.

Neighbouring emergency departments pitched in

Interim Liberal Leader Derek Mombourquette agreed.

"This happens across the province at times and generally, you know, people find out what the cause of the outage is," he said.

"I don't understand why if media asks, they don't get an answer to a question."

The health authority spokesperson said care for patients in the emergency department during the outage was maintained by moving them to areas of the hospital that still had power.

Neighbouring emergency departments were also able to provide support for patients, they said.