11 pregnant women could go into labour during Campbellton obstetrics closure

A week-long closure of the Campbellton Regional Hospital's obstetrics and pediatric services is worrisome for families living in the area, the CEO of Vitalit Health Network says.

"It's a time in their life where, of course, if you plan on delivering in a certain institution, with a certain physician, you'd like to be able to do that," said Gilles Lanteigne.

The obstetrics and pediatric units will be closed from June 5 to 12 due to a shortage of physician coverage.

Lanteigne said one of the on-call physicians who was expected to come in and replace regular physicians at the hospitalended up not being availableto work during the week.

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"There's no reason why we should be maintaining services when they cannot be of quality and secure," he said.

Although the network tried to find someone who could backfill, Lanteignesaid this time of year is always challenging to find backfillbecause there are "a lot of activities in professional development and other things."

"Most of the time we're very successful because we have a list and we're very proactive in soliciting them and making arrangements ahead of time," he said.

"But when it's the last minute, it complicates things."

11 women could be affected

He said finding local locumcoverage can bechallenging for the health authority, particularly in rural areas.

"Let's say we have two or three physicians, that means they have to be on call one third of the time, or one half of the time," he said.

Lanteigne said there are 11 pregnant women in the area who could deliver their babies while the hospital's obstetrics unit is closed.

"That's the worst case scenario," he said.

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Patients were told there would be an interruption in services, and the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst, about an hour away from Campbellton, will be accepting patients for those units during that time.

"If there's any complication or emergency, of course we're still there in Campbellton and there's still access to ambulance services if they're required," he said.

Pediatric services will also be redirected to Bathurst, but if emergency care is needed, arrangements can also be made at the Campbellton Regional Hospital for ambulance services.

Closures becoming more frequent

The obstetrics unit at the Bathurst hospital was also closed for several weeks last year and early into 2019 due to a nursing shortage.

Lanteigne said these types of closures seem to be happening more frequently. And with more staff leaving the health-care system in the next few years, he saidclosures could become the new normal.

He's hopeful aninflux of graduates will help solve staffing shortages in years to come.

"Interruption of service seems to be more frequent, especially this year," he said.