Maternity unit closure averted at Brandon hospital

A 24-hour disruption in maternity services at Brandon Regional Health Centre (BRHC) has been averted after the hospital managed to secure medical provider coverage.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Prairie Mountain Health – the authority that oversees BRHC – posted on X that coverage for maternity services had been secured for between 8 a.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday, narrowly avoiding a closure.

Earlier, the health authority had advised patients that there would be a “temporary disruption” due to an “unexpected absence.”

The closure meant expectant mothers and families would have to go elsewhere for care.

Before coverage was secured, parents said they were upset over the expected lack of services.

“It’s very frightening,” said Will, a soon-to-be father. “It’s a period of a lot of uncertainty and stress and that just piles on.

“We’ve been preparing for months, everything that we can prepare for this day, and for everything to be thrown for a loop a day before, potentially, is very stressful,” he told CTV News.

Will’s wife is 39-and-a-half weeks pregnant, with a due date of Jan. 5. He said he found out about the closure through friends and social media, rather than through his health care provider.

“It’s really frustrating,” he said. “And it worries me that there are still yet many people who don’t have social media and they won’t know until it’s too late.”

The closure, which was shared online hours before the health authority released a statement, garnered lots of frustration from parents and families online. Many expressed their concerns about the impending shutdown, as well as future closures that could result from similar staffing issues.

New mom Mikaila Boucher said she had her twins at BRHC at the end of October. However, she said the cracks in the system were already showing back then.

“The staff on that floor and in the (neonatal intensive care unit) give everything to their patients,” she told CTV News. “So witnessing how overworked they are is just rage-inflicting.”

“I am scared for the new mothers starting their journey.”

Maternity disruption was expected: Doctor

A physician who worked as an obstetrical provider at the Brandon hospital up until July said it’s not the first time the maternity unit was almost shut down.

“(Prairie Mountain Health has) known that they won’t have coverage for this for quite a while, and they were just hoping that some of the other physicians would come back from their holidays and make it up,” said Dr. Alise Gaiser-Edwards.

Gaiser-Edwards now runs her own practice known as The Wellness Clinic Brandon. She said she felt it was important to let her clients and the public know about the upcoming disruption as soon as possible.

“As a provider, I immediately thought of my patients and that’s the reason I had posted this,” she said. “To make sure that everyone within my practice and everyone within our community knew.”

Gaiser-Edwards said she’s been advocating for women’s health and improvements to the health-care system for some time. However, she said she feels as though her calls are falling on deaf ears.

“I’ve spoken with (Manitoba Premier) Wab Kinew, and I’ve spoken with the minister of health, as well as our CEO and chief medical officer at Prairie Mountain Health and shared these concerns, but nothing’s really happening with it.”

The physician said the next step is to get community members involved in hopes their voices and experiences will amplify her demands.

“If you think about the maternity ward specifically, it’s the lifeline for many families in our community,” she said. “And it being closed for 24 hours, it impacts moms and impacts families, impacts all women who might need emergency surgeries.”

She also pointed out how far expectant mothers may have had to travel had the closure came into effect.

“There’s lives on the line,” Gaiser-Edwards said.