N.S. Rehabilitation Centre's hydrotherapy pool re-opening
The Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre's hydrotherapy pool is set to re-open next year after successfully raising $2.1-million for repairs to the aging structure.
The pool closed in December 2011 due to the high cost of maintenance. The pool membrane leaked and the 37-year-old pipes were corroded.
Dr. Christine Short, the chief of division of physical medicine and rehabilitation for Capital Health, says patients have missed the pool in the years it has been closed.
"We have lots of other treatments we can offer," said Short, "but the pool is a very unique tool that we have to help re-mobilize people, to help with pain management, muscle spasticity, that we have really been missing since 2011."
Complete overhaul of pool and building
Randi Monroe, the director of the rehabilitation centre, said about 40 to 60 patients used the pool during the day, and in the evenings the pool was often used by community groups of between 20 and 40 people.
Capital Health is putting out a request for proposals on the work that needs to be done and hopes to choose a contractor in November.
"It will require a complete overhaul of the pool, which will actually look at the structure of the pool, all the tiles," said Monroe. "All that will be taken off and a brand new green-and blue-theme will come in. We're also doing the bathrooms, the changing rooms; we're really focusing on accessibility."
The pool will also get a new, automated, chemical system, new pipes and plumbing, a new membrane, and a ceiling lift that will be able to transfer patients right from the change rooms to the pool.
Patients like Shane Decoste are welcoming the return of the pool. Decoste is living in the centre receiving treatment for a spinal cord injury. He uses a wheelchair after herniating a disc in his back two months ago.
He expects to go through two years of intensive therapy before he is able to walk again. He experienced the benefits of therapy in a heated pool in New Brunswick, but has not been able to continue that therapy in Halifax.
"It's a great thing," he said. "It's too bad I didn't have it while I was here, but it's good to know that the people coming behind me will have this and be able to benefit from it."
The pool is heated to around 35 degrees. Decoste says it's easier to complete his treatments in a pool that feels like bathwater.
"It feels excellent," he said. "The heated pool, it just helps with all your muscles. It's a real good benefit."
The QEII Foundation raised the money for the pool, and it comes entirely from private hands. A diverse set of donors included swim teams, motorcycle rallies, and a rehab centre staff drive.
11 months to raise $2.1M
Bill Bean, the CEO of the QEII Foundation, says the foundation hit its fundraising goal in just 11 months. "People rallied around," he said.
"There's much more we want to do at the rehab centre, but the centrepiece was going to be the therapeutic pool."
The Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre is currently the only such centre in Canada without a pool.
Once the repairs are complete, Randi Monroe says the projected maintenance costs should be a more manageable $133,000 per year.
"That is a cost that we are certainly prepared to work with across a lot of departments," she said.
