The upcoming closure of the maternity ward at Banff’s Mineral Springs Hospital has led some residents to protest the decision, however, hospital officials insist mothers and babies will benefit from increased safety measures.
Last Thursday (Jan. 24), over 50 people attended a rally at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Banff for an information session and to protest closure of the maternity ward.
Labour and maternity services are set to move to Canmore General Hospital near the end of March.
Organized by volunteers uniting under the banner Hatch, Patch and Dispatch, a reference to the types of services they believe community hospitals should offer, the event was also a chance to deliver a clear message to Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Covenant Health.
“Our message is very simple. The core basic services that are already here should remain here,” said Kristen Wiggins, one of the members.
Wiggins pointed out the group is upset over the process and discussions regarding the decision to close obstetrics services at Banff’s Mineral Springs Hospital, as well as the idea health authorities are fixing a problem that doesn’t exist.
Wiggins said having a hospital that offers maternity services is vital to the community and to the health of mothers and newborns.
“There’s enough evidence out there to acknowledge that stress can play an important role in the outcomes any time you have to go to the hospital,” she said. “As much as we can lessen that stress, the outcomes are better for moms and babies.”
As part of the information session, Michael Klein, a semi-retired doctor from Vancouver who has extensive experience delivering babies, offered his thoughts on the negative effects of moving obstetrics to Canmore.
“There’s no evidence that there is a safety problem in Banff or a quality problem,” Klein said. “There is a need to continue to maintain that quality and that requires keeping the skills. In fact, they acknowledge that not only is it safe, it’s especially safe and its complication rate is especially low.”
Losing maternity services could lead to the closure of other departments, he noted.
“Maternity supports general surgery because of the Caesarean section,” he explained. “All of these other services are interconnected and if you lose maternity care, you reduce the volume of surgeries. One thing leads to another.”
However, according to Banff Mineral Springs Hospital executive director Cindy Mulherin, the surgical services currently offered will not be compromised, but rather increased with the addition of vascular and plastic surgery options.
“Our surgical program is not at risk and if you look at the shift in services, what we’ve done is added more surgery to strengthen the surgical program we already have,” Mulherin said.
“We do over 3,000 surgeries a year and we have over 5,000 outpatient clinic visits,” she added. “We have around 11,000 emergency room visits. It’s a vibrant hospital and those programs are not at risk.”
The executive director explained the main reason for obstetrics moving to the hospital in Canmore is because of safety, noting the Canmore hospital has a consulting obstetrician gynecologist, three pediatricians and the ability to perform ultrasound.
“Consolidation of obstetrics has been a subject that we’ve been talking about for over two decades,” she said. “What brought it to light was the deliveries in Banff have decreased significantly over the last couple of years, particular in 2012, when we lost one physician to the Canmore clinic.”
Mulherin said 51 babies were delivered at the Banff hospital last year, of which only 50 per cent were actual residents. Canmore had around 300 births.
“Any hospital that experiences less than 100 deliveries a year really needs to stop and ask themselves should they be in this business,” she added. “It’s all about the safety of mothers and babies. Delivering a baby is very much a team approach and it involves a skilled physician and skilled nurses.”
Transportation was also an issue discussed at the rally and the executive director explained if a Banff resident requires ambulance transport to Canmore, it is not covered by Alberta health care insurance, but would be covered through private insurance, such as Blue Cross.
“Our physicians in emergency will maintain a certain level of competency to deal with emergency obstetrical, what we call imminent deliveries,” she said. “If the mother is assessed here and there’s time to get them to Canmore, that’s where the mother will go.”
Banff-Cochrane MLA Ron Casey also attended the rally to hear the concerns from members within the constituency.
“From my understanding, it was a matter of shifting services; both hospitals were doing both so it was consolidating services in Banff and Canmore and trying to make the best use of the facilities and personnel available,” Casey said.
After hearing a comment from one of the protest attendees, Casey indicated it was also worthy to note the number of cities and towns scattered across Alberta that don’t have access to maternity wards at hospitals.
“There’s places three times the size of Banff, Cochrane being one, where you have to go somewhere else to have a baby delivered.
“Across Alberta it doesn’t change,” he added. “In the Bow Valley we are so lucky that really it’s 12 miles apart and that in Alberta is absolutely unheard of. Some of this has to be taken in that light as well.”
Organizers for Hatch, Patch and Dispatch indicated they would like to voice their opposition at the legislature in Edmonton.
