Healthcare

Quality of life often depends on the quality of one's health. Bridgewater's healthcare infrastructure is designed to address the needs of town residents and those who live in the surrounding communities. The cornerstone of which is a modern regional hospital.

South Shore Regional Hospital (Website)

South Shore Regional Hospital (SSRH) is an 84-bed acute care health facility, which serves a population base of approximately 60,000. It is located on the East Side of the LaHave River in a park-like setting and is within a stone's throw of the Medical Arts Building, which houses a number of physicians' private practices. Additionally, Bridgewater is a one-hour drive from Halifax where tertiary care services not offered at SSRH are available. For further information call 902-543-4603. SSRH offers:

• Acute care modern facility
• 24 hour emergency care
• Three theatre operating suite
• Five day per week day surgery
• A 24-hour Emergency Department Level III Emergency and District Trauma Centre
• Skilled nursing care
• Telehealth services
• Helipad for emergency health response airlift to Halifax (20 minutes)

Clinical Services Include:

• Diagnostic Imaging
• Laboratory
• Occupational Therapy
• Mammography
• Pharmacy
• Physiotherapy
• Ultrasound
• Respiratory Therapy
• Mental Health Outpatient Unit
• Nuclear Medicine
• Electrocardiography 

SSRH also has an Infection Control Nurse and an Occupational Health Nurse. Discharge Planning/Utilization Management, Home Care, Social Work, Palliative Care, and Pastoral Care further support patients and their families.

Home Based Clinics & Support Services
Many support groups, health boards, and wellness associations hold meetings at the hospital on a regular basis at no charge.

Additional Medical Services
A wide range of medical services and supporting institutions contribute to Bridgewater's healthcare offerings.

• Audiology
• Family Physicians
• Physiotherapy Holistic Health Care Clinic 
• Specialist Physicians 
• Pharmacists
• Family Dentists & Specialists
• Registered Massage Therapy 
• Several pharmacies
• Provincial Mammography 
• Optometry Dispensing Opticians
• Care program
• Ophthalmology

Emergency Medical Care (EHS) (Website)
Emergency Health Services Nova Scotia (EHS), a division of the Nova Scotia Department of Health is the emergency response service provider in Bridgewater. EHS is responsible for the continual development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of pre-hospital emergency health services in the Province (paramedic, ground and air ambulance, trauma and first response). Nova Scotia is the largest jurisdiction in North America to have a single medical dispatch centre. The operation provides a single point of access to all of the pre-hospital emergency medical care resources controlled by EHS.