Nova Scotia Health says hope on horizon for suspended overnight detox service in Sydney – CBC
Program reduced to look for a doctor, but advocate says temporary fix of sending patients to ER doesn’t cut it
Nov 03, 2025
When Nova Scotia Health suspended its overnight detox beds at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in July, it said it needed two weeks to find another doctor to oversee the inpatient service.
But it’s been nearly four months and people needing help with substance-use withdrawal cannot wait any longer, says Blair Kasouf, a retired lawyer, social worker and addictions medicine advocate.
“The thing with addictions, when that light’s come on for a little while and somebody says, ‘I need help,’ they need to be able to get it right away, not ‘Here’s an appointment six weeks down the road,’ because the person’s probably not going to show up,” Kasouf said.
Dr. David Martell, the province’s medical lead on addictions treatment, said it’s been difficult recruiting new doctors, especially one for the specialty service.
“Few physicians want to make this their career or take on additional work like this in addition to the very busy practices that they run,” he said.
