The year of 2021-22 brought a lot of changes to Nova Scotia Health. We adapted to the way we fought a global pandemic, we adapted to the way we responded to health care challenges and we adapted to new and innovative ways of doing things.

To be part of this is a point of pride.

Our team of more than 30,000 employees, doctors, volunteers, researchers and learners remained committed to our mission of striving for excellence in health, healing and learning through working together.

We continued to battle COVID-19—mobilizing our efforts and expanding our testing and vaccine outreach to areas across the province to ensure all Nova Scotians have barrier-free access to these supports.

We persevered through the challenges of a strained health care system. Hospitals throughout our province continued to see higher than normal emergency visits and demand for hospital beds. These pressures came at a time when Nova Scotia, like other provinces and territories, experienced considerable staffing challenges made worse by the pandemic.

However, in the past year we found new and innovative ways to provide services.

This fall we heard from our health care teams across the province during the Speak Up for Healthcare tour. This was extremely helpful as we strive to create a high performing health system where Nova Scotians can depend on having access to care when they need it.

We’re already starting to see the shifts in transformation.

We’ve increased access to health care with the opening of two urgent treatment centres, two addictions recovery support centres and Nova Scotia’s first mental health acute day hospital. We launched VirtualCareNS, ensuring everyone on the Need a Family Practice Registry has access to virtual care for their primary care needs.

These are just a few of the alternative models of care that we have enabled as we continue to try new approaches, evaluate, adjust and move health care forward in this province.

Major health care redevelopment projects are underway at the QEII and in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Last year we completed the $150 million expansion and renovation at Dartmouth General Hospital.

Innovation is thriving in Nova Scotia. The QEII Health Sciences Centre is now home to the second surgical robot of its kind in Canada. We officially launched Nova Scotia Health’s new Innovation Hub, with the purpose of transforming health care through leading-edge research, the best available evidence, and innovative solutions.

Despite managing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, physician recruitment had a banner year in 2021. Seventy-five family doctors and 88 other specialists started work in the province, we welcomed our highest number of practice ready assessment program candidates into the program and continued our focus on resident engagement.

We continue to evolve our work and partnership with the new Office of Health Care Professionals Recruitment and we are excited for the opportunities that we will create with this new department.

Through another tough year, we came together, and we persevered – accepting challenges and adapting to new, innovative solutions to ensure that Nova Scotians get the right care, at the right time, when they need it.