Maternity-care disruption at Brandon hospital averted

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/01/2025 (258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An impending disruption in maternity services at the Brandon Regional Health Centre (BRHC) was averted on Wednesday after two obstetricians from Winnipeg and two family physicians from rural Manitoba stepped forward to fill shifts overseeing care for expectant mothers in Westman.

The incident has once again highlighted the continuing precarity surrounding health-care access and staffing in Manitoba, which has been marked by repeated ER closures across the province, including in sparsely staffed rural health-care facilities in the Westman region.

Before the shifts were filled at BRHC on Wednesday, Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) put out an advisory alerting media, including The Brandon Sun, about the “temporary disruption” expected at the hospital, starting at 8 a.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Friday. The “unexpected absence” of a medical provider was cited as the reason for the disruption.

PMH also advised expectant mothers and anyone seeking maternity services to access care at another health-care centre or facility during that time.

However, the health region put out another advisory later on Wednesday evening stating it had secured medical coverage resulting in the uninterrupted provision of maternity services.

While the issue has been resolved (for now), it is one that is worrisome, said Brandon family physician Dr. Elise Gaiser-Edwards, adding it’s not a matter of if, but when it will happen again.

“It looks like it’s just a problem for expectant mothers, but it’s a complete community-wide crisis,” Gaiser-Edwards, a mother of two, told the Sun.

“The obstetrical care collapse doesn’t just affect pregnant women, which is by the way, a life-or-death situation.”

“We know that in obstetrical emergencies, we have anywhere from five to 60 minutes to get that baby out — whether it’s surgical or vaginal delivery — and so redirecting to Winnipeg with two ambulances in our entire region is condemning women,” she said.

Gaiser-Edwards runs her own practice — The Wellness Clinic Brandon — but held obstetrical privileges at BRHC for seven years, which ended in July last year.

She said she found out about the planned disruption from an emergency room colleague.

“PMH didn’t reach out to me as a provider to pregnant women,” Gaiser-Edwards said. “So, I spent my holiday calling my pre-natal patients, which is fine, that’s what I signed up for — also posting a notice on our Facebook page.”

As of 6 p.m. on Thursday, the clinic’s Facebook post letting its patients know about the potential closure had received more than 200 comments.

Reactions included a comment from Mikaila Boucher, who wrote, “Rerouting them (laboring mothers) two hours on a winter highway is unacceptable. Babies will be born on the highway. That is dangerous for everyone. This is not ok. One day of closure will lead to more.”

Another Facebook user, Britt EM, expressed her opinion, writing, “How is this okay? The second largest city in Manitoba cannot adequately staff the maternity ward and are redirecting patients 45 minutes to two hours away. If this doesn’t scream ‘health care system collapse’ I don’t know what does.”

Gaiser-Edwards also posted an open letter to the community on her clinic’s Instagram page, with the heading, “Our healthcare system narrowly avoided a crisis.” It garnered almost 300 reactions as of 6 p.m. Thursday.

One of the physicians who stepped in to fill the staffing gap at BRHC is Dr. Nichelle Desilets, a family physician in Neepawa and the incoming president for Doctors Manitoba. She also filled in for a shift on New Year’s Eve and will be filling in for another one later today.

“I completely understand the stress that the public, particularly the younger families in Brandon and southwestern Manitoba have expressed,” said Desilets.

“Some of the maternity nurses have told me they’ve never seen a closure of maternity services for that reason in their careers,” she stated, adding, “It could happen again.”

Manitoba currently has a shortage of 346 doctors and ranks second to last in terms of physicians per capita in Canada. It has 219 physicians per 100,000 residents, according to the Doctors Manitoba’s website.

Desilets explained that everyone in the health-care system is scheduled so tightly that every minute of every day is claimed.

“There is no wiggle room to be sick, there is no other person to come in and be you when you can’t do the job that you were assigned that day,” said Desilets.

Desilets said she commended PMH in how it managed the situation with its, “province-wide call out for help, including for Winnipeg-based obstetricians and gynecologists to come out and do some locum coverage.”

“They were courageous in looking into less conventional solutions, like thinking, ‘who else delivers babies in the PMH region?’” she said.

Treena Slate, PMH’s CEO, told the Sun the health region is grateful for the obstetrical services support it received within PMH, as well as across the province.

“Fortunately, in this recent case involving Brandon Regional Health Centre obstetrical services, medical provider coverage was secured to ensure no disruption of services,” Slate said in an email to the Sun.

“Recruitment and retention continue to be a top priority for PMH. Two new OB/GYNs are anticipated to join BRHC in January 2025 and April 2025, respectively,” she revealed.

Manitoba’s Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara said they were glad to hear “there was no disruption of obstetrical services at the Brandon Regional Health Centre.”

“Whenever there is a potential shortage, the province, regional health authorities, and other service delivery organizations work together to ensure care is available for those who need it,” Asagwara wrote in an email to the Sun.

Asagwara also confirmed that two new OB/GYNs have been hired to work at BRHC.

Gaiser-Edwards told the Sun that she has an upcoming meeting with Premier Wab Kinew and Minister Asagwara and will present them with the emails she has received from her clients and community at large.

“I met with the Minister of Health, and Premier Kinew in the past,” said Gaiser-Edwards, “but I just brought the consensus of what my population has been saying to me, and that has not been enough.

“So, if I collect actual words from our community and bring those forward, I’m hoping that will be enough to provoke a change.”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

» X: @enviromichele