Power Outage Victoria was traced to a failed transformer at Victoria General, and Nova Scotia Health said it will replace that transformer. The replacement will require a scheduled power shutdown of up to two hours to connect and test the new unit, and NSH has said normal operations should resume by the end of the week.
Power Outage Victoria Response
Nova Scotia Health announced the transformer would be replaced within 24 hours after the outage that began just before midnight on March 6, and crews have been working to remove the affected unit, test it and install a replacement. The planned shutdown to connect and test the replacement could last up to two hours.
The pattern suggests NSH is prioritizing a rapid hardware swap to restore built-in electrical redundancy rather than extending temporary measures; a two-hour shutdown to complete connection and testing is the narrow, defined step toward returning the facility to full, sustained power.
Nova Scotia Health Actions
NSH said one of the building’s two transformers experienced a problem even though the generators were functioning, and staff asked Nova Scotia Power to move the building to a secondary feed, restoring full power at approximately 5: 30 am ET. The Centennial Building returned to regular street power later Saturday.
The figures point to a limited but meaningful failure in on-site infrastructure: backup generators kept critical systems running, while loss of a transformer still required external rerouting to restore full building power and prompted removal and replacement work.
Victoria General Surgery Impact
As of Tuesday, NSH had relocated 21 surgeries from Victoria General to other sites and rescheduled 39 procedures after the outage, and operating rooms at the Victoria General site are expected to reopen this week. Crews are prioritizing reconnection and testing so surgical services can resume on-site.
The relocation and rescheduling numbers show the operational strain the transformer failure imposed on surgical scheduling and capacity; moving 21 procedures and rescheduling 39 creates a concentrated backlog that reopening operating rooms this week must begin to address.
NSH has set the next confirmed milestone: the transformer replacement within 24 hours and a target of normal operations by the end of the week, with the brief, scheduled shutdown to connect and test the new unit the immediate step that will determine when on-site surgical activity fully resumes.
