Calls for action grow as B.C. hospital diverts maternity patient because of pediatrician shortage

A two-week diversion of maternity patients from White Rock's Peace Arch Hospital because of a shortage in pediatric care has many calling for action.

Earlier this week, Fraser Health announced it would be diverting expecting patients who required labour and delivery support to other hospitals from July 8 to July 19, leaving many labouring moms scrambling to find a backup plan.

Dr. Michael Smith, a pediatrician in Fraser Health and the regional medical director for the Maternal Infant and Child Youth Program, told CBC the diversion was the result of a gap in the number of pediatricians available to provide maternity coverage.

"We really want to make sure that the safety of the babies that are born and their families are completely high quality and we are really striving for that," said Smith. 

Smith said this isn't the first time a diversion has happened at Peace Arch , and the health authority has been struggling with an ongoing issue of recruiting pediatric doctors to work in smaller hospitals.

"If you don't have a pediatric unit, it's just very hard to get pediatricians to work there," Smith said. 

Mojgan Nadafi, a registered midwife at Surrey Mama Midwifery, says the diversions are happening throughout Fraser Health and are becoming a regular occurrence for her patients.

She said it's been very frustrating and stressful for expecting parents, who sometimes don't know about a diversion until they show up at the hospital with the mother already in labour.

"The Ministry of Health should do something about this because it's not just about us. The main thing is the patient's safety — physically and emotionally," Nadafi said. 

Mom experienced 2 diversions during 1 birth

In a letter to the ministry expressing her concern, mother of four Danielle Ali wrote that she experienced two hospital diversions while giving birth to her fourth child in June 2020.

"All of my other babies were born at the hospital I was supposed to deliver at. I was expecting and planning on going to the same hospital," wrote Ali. 

When she was turned away from that facility and showed up at the second hospital with her midwife, they were told that it was also diverting patients, forcing them to head to a third hospital. 

Ali said that if it weren't for the care of her midwife, the situation would have been a lot scarier. 

"I wouldn't have been able to be comfortable with having some doctor I'd never laid eyes on delivering my baby," she said. 

Ali, who's expecting her fifth baby in January 2022, said she is very worried that unless some kind of action is taken, she will have to divert once again.

Liberal MLAs call for government action 

Midwives and expectant mothers aren't the only ones calling for action.

In a statement Wednesday, several B.C. Liberal MLAs said they are calling on the NDP government to create a recruitment strategy so the problem doesn't keep repeating.

"It's completely unacceptable — especially as this is not the first time such a disruption has been an issue at Peace Arch Hospital," said Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford.

Surrey South MLA Stephanie Cadieux said she wants to see steps taken to ensure adequate staffing levels now and in the future.

"The NDP keep talking about the new Surrey hospital, meanwhile they can't even adequately staff one of the existing ones," Cadieux added. 

Smith said Fraser Health is working with the Ministry of Health to come up with a plan to avoid these sorts of gaps in coverage in the long term.

"We're making a really concerted effort to try and address this problem. But unfortunately, it's been very challenging," Smith said.