Expectant mothers in northeastern Saskatchewan are being told they will have to deliver their babies in The Pas or Prince Albert as of November 18, as the Flin Flon hospital will no longer offer the service.
Rural Health Minister Greg Ottenbreit confirms that the obstetrician left some time ago and that the hospital has had recruitment issues. He says the hospital was using locums in the interim, but the hospital determined that was not a safe option.
Residents in Pelican Narrows, Denare Beach, Deschambault Lake, Creighton and Sandy Bay recently held a community meeting, where Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette says many moms-to-be are stressing about where they will have their babies, travel cost and time and what to do if there is an emergency while traveling.
“You look at some of the mothers, they’re ready to deliver and some of them are new mothers. They want to make sure; they’re safe when it comes time when they need to deliver their baby, they have a hospital where they feel comfortable,” Vermette said.
Ottenbreit agrees that safety is paramount for expectant mothers. He says he was informed a few weeks ago of the birthing service disruption in Flin Flon.
“They’ve had a challenge over a number of months, maybe a year that they’ve had trouble recruiting. They’ve been back-filling with locum services to make sure they can support the services. They had a review a short time ago from their own internal specialists that for the safe delivery of services that they would have to suspend it,” Ottenbreit explained.
Vermette questioned the emergency readiness with the Pelican Narrows airport, as it is not equipped with night lighting and is a gravel airstrip. The government countered it does make improvements to northern airports and will continue to do the same in the future.
(PHOTO: Flin Flon hospital. Courtesy nrgmanagement.ca)