Birthing unit at Pontiac Hospital still closed after nearly 2 years

What was originally planned as a six-month closure of the obstetrics department at the Pontiac Hospital has lasted for nearly two years due to an ongoing nursing shortage.

Le Centre intgr de sant et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO) announced in February 2020 theShawville, Que., hospital wouldtemporarily closethedepartment while they tried torebuild the obstetrics team.

But since then, CISSSO has been unable to bring in or retain any new nurses who specializein pregnancy and childbirth.

There are currently only three nurses trained in obstetrics who work at the hospital,but it would take 12 to provide comprehensive and safe care for mothers and babies in the Pontiac, according to CISSSO.

The closure has meant mothers have had to travel outside the region over an hour in some cases to give birth.

Since the beginning of the year the Gatineau Hospital has birthed 23 babies from the Pontiac region, while others have gone to the Pembroke Hospital on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River.

Expectingmother preparesfor 1-hour trek

Samantha Smith has given birth four times at the Pontiac Hospital, but will have to make the trek to Pembroke when her fifth child is due next month.

"It's very stressful to think of it. You're going to another hospital where you haven't really metthe doctorwho is going todeliver, or the team," she said.

What's most stressful for Smith is thinking about the hour-long drive it will take to get to Pembroke when she is in labour.

"We can't predict how fast the delivery will come and I don't want to be stranded on the side of the road delivering," she said.

With the ongoing shortage CISSSOdoesn't have a definitive timeline on when the department willreopen.

"It is difficult for us at the moment to determine," a CISSO spokesperson said in a French statement to Radio-Canada.

In the six months prior to the closure in February 2020, the unit had shut down 14 times.

Jane Toller, warden of thePontiac's regional council of 18 local mayors, said she doesn't blame CISSSO for being unable to find new nurses, noting the biggest obstacle is a salary discrepancy between Ontario and Quebec.

"Until the government ratifies the salaries to make it equal to Ontario, there is no point intrying because we cannot keep nurses," she said.

"I think the longer that you keep a department closed, the greater chances that it may never reopen."

Despite those concerns, Toller said council is planning to increase the pressure on the provincial government by circulating a petition demanding the unit bereopened, something Smith is fully behind.

"We are going to continue this fight with all the locals and expecting moms aroundbecause we deserve our obstetricsopened," Smith said.