It’s been a flip-floppy week in BC health, and the latest update is the news that Peace Arch Hospital’s maternity ward will actually remain open.
News broke earlier in the week that Peace Arch Hospital was going to divert patients away from their maternity ward due to staffing issues, and instead direct them to Langley Memorial Hospital, which is nearly 30 minutes away.
Those staffing issues have been mitigated, and “renewed efforts” mean that the ward will remain open, with the exception of sporadic single-day diversions.
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The news about the diversion being diverted came seemingly hours after a peaceful rally that took place at the hospital, with residents in the community raising concerns.
Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO of Fraser Health, held a brief media availability where she announced the news. She was asked whether or not public pressure was part of the reason that this news came to light, but she suggested it was not.
Lee claimed that aggressive efforts took place to mitigate the staffing issues. Fraser Health had reached out to other jurisdictions across the province to help fill the staffing gaps.
“From recruitment, to reaching out to professionals across the region. All of the strategies have been aggressively employed to divert the diversion,” said Lee.
“The challenge that we had was a human resource capacity issue, not about funding.”
A statement from Fraser Health adds, “we have been able to implement an alternative payment model to support pediatric recruitment,” but they couldn’t go into detail.
“We would like to thank the pediatric group and our provider partners for their support and continued dedication to caring for newborn babies in the White Rock and South Surrey communities,” the statement adds.