(CNN) A Catholic hospital in Nova Scotia must provide physician-assisted suicide assessments to eligible patients who request them, the province's public health service has ruled.

St. Martha's Regional Hospital will now perform assessments for patients seeking medical assistance in dying at its hospital, said Tim Guest, vice president of the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA). The hospital was previously exempt because of its faith-based identity.

But the Sisters of St. Martha, the order of Catholic nuns who used to operate the hospital, said in a statement that assisted suicides will not take place at the hospital itself.

Medically assisted deaths can occur in the Antigonish Health and Wellness Centre, a building connected to the hospital, Guest said. For approved patients who request euthanasia, he said the health authority has "put a mechanism in place to provide that service," though he didn't offer details.

Guest said the ruling honors an agreement between the NSHA and the Sisters after the government agency took control of the hospital in 1996. Both groups agreed to respect the hospital's religious values while obeying laws that require physician-assisted suicide to be available for eligible patients.

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