Leaking pipes, toxic fumes: Crumbling infrastructure pushing Halifax pathologists to brink

Inside Halifax's pathology department, one physician works in a room with a pipe that drips into a bucket. 

In another room, staff wear expensive safety suits to protect themselves from toxic fumes because of ventilation problems. 

Located inside the Mackenzie building on the Victoria General site, the head of pathology says their crumbling infrastructure is putting patient care at risk.

The pathology lab is a crucial, yet often overlooked, part of the health-care system, says Dr. Laurette Geldenhuys.

Her concerns are echoed by a Nova Scotia Health review that also warns the state of the laboratory's facilities are failing. 

The team processes about 100,000 samples a year for patients across the Atlantic region. While the volume of work is enough for them to be swamped, problems with the building are pushing the team to the brink, says Geldenhuys. 

"As the pressure keep mounting and mounting, no amount of collegiality is going to make up," she said of the stress put upon her team. "I'm concerned once we start losing pathologists, once people resign, it will have a negative spiraling effect."

She says there have been several floods. One was "within inches" of sensitive equipment in the lab that processes cancer samples.

In another office, "there is a pipe coming from the ceiling into a big bucket of water and that is not fixable. So the pathologist has to work under those conditions."

Geldenhuys says her team is constantly worried about more flooding.

"That can have a very significantly negative impact on patient care. So it is just really a disaster waiting to happen."

Geldenhuys's concerns are mirrored in an review of the department that was released in March. It says "there are significant structural concerns about the Mackenzie building" with "potential for serious disruption of the service."

The ventilation system in the building is also woefully inadequate, Geldenhuys says. Some staff must wear bulky safety gear in order to protect themselves from toxic fumes.

"They have to wear these suits with ... a hood and a special filter that costs a large amount of money. That's completely unrecyclable. They just go in the garbage," she said.