More inpatients displaced following water leak at Halifax's Abbie Lane building

Nearly two dozen inpatients of a mental health and addictions unit in Halifax have been moved or discharged following a water leak Friday that affected three floors of the building.

Nova Scotia's health authority said Tuesday that 20 of 48 beds at the Abbie J. Lane Memorial Building have been taken out of service. That means 20 patients have been moved out of the unit, either to another facility like the Nova Scotia Hospital, or discharged altogether.

"Nobody who is unsafe was discharged," said Matt White, director of mental health and addictions in Nova Scotia Health's Central Zone. "And everybody who needed a bed — it just may not be in the Abbie Lane — was found a bed." 

The water damage means the number of mental health and addictions inpatient beds that are available has been temporarily cut provincewide.

Nova Scotia Health said it is examining how it can increase capacity.

The health authority reported Friday that five patients had been relocated, but had warned the number could increase in the coming days.

White said the incident was triggered by a sprinkler leak caused by a "patient-related event." 

He said damage is still being assessed, and though it's unclear when the repairs will be made or when the beds can be used again, officials are working to address the issue as fast as they can. 

Dr. Sanjana Sridharan, a psychiatrist and the section head for acute psychiatric and emergency medicine for Nova Scotia Health's Central Zone, says that patients have been responding well in the wake of the incident.

"They seem to be demonstrating real resilience," she said. "I feel that we have a really good group of experienced, multidisciplinary team members who are working with helping them understand what happened and helping them settle in."

The health authority said anyone who needs to be admitted for mental health and addictions reasons will be cared for, but it might mean they have to stay at a facility farther from home than usual.

"For any Nova Scotian that's concerned … we're working continuously on this," said White.