‘We’re terrified’: Pregnant patients, healthcare providers oppose Peace Arch maternity closure

Ten weeks away from her due date, Savannah Walsh has no idea where she’ll go if she requires urgent care while giving birth now that Peace Arch Hospital’s maternity ward is closing indefinitely.

Fraser Health announced Friday the ward will close Jan. 28 because an “unexpected leave” means there will not be pediatricians available to support patients. Calling it an “extended diversion,” the health authority says patients will be sent to Langley Memorial Hospital until a vacant position is full.

“Fraser Health implemented this extended diversion to ensure we are able to provide the best and safest care for our patients,” a statement issued Friday said.

‘We’re not being listened to’

But for expectant parents like Walsh, the prospect of going to another hospital in Langley or Surrey is both risky and frightening. Due in late March, Walsh and her husband were planning a home birth, knowing Peace Arch is a four-minute ambulance ride away in case of an emergency.

“With this news, we’re actually having to reevaluate our entire birth plan. Because, if God forbid something happens, we now have a 25 to 30-minute ambulance ride to the nearest hospital,” she tells CityNews, adding that planning a hospital birth would also mean a long drive during labour.

“There’s a really reasonable chance I can end up on the side of the road having a baby. Honestly, truthfully, we have to reconsider everything. But really, there’s no good option for us at this point in time. “

Walsh says diversions from Peace Arch have been a longstanding problem. She was sent to Surrey to deliver her daughter five years ago, and warned it was a possibility before giving birth seven years ago.

“Unfortunately, this is kind of part of the community, something that the community is used to — which is ridiculous. The fact that you cannot have a birth plan, and know you have safe, adequate, accessible health care — that is not the option for expectant parents in Surrey and surrounding areas,” she says.

“I think why people are so angry — I think it’s because we’re not being listened to. Langley and Surrey are not an adequate choice for us. When you’re in labour and you live in far White Rock, that is not a choice for you to get in the car, drive 30 minutes and also risk Langley being over capacity, Surrey being over capacity … If you don’t have a way to the hospital and you can’t afford a 30-minute cab ride, what are you doing? Go on transit? This is affecting not only our community but surrounding communities. It’s huge.”

Among those opposing the move by Fraser health include a local midwifery practice, family doctors serving the area, and Surrey’s mayor. All say this diversion is only the latest illustration of a persistent, systemic problem. A rally is being planned to protest the closure, and a petition asking Fraser Health to reverse the decision has gathered thousands of signatures.

‘It’s a true safety concern’

Jennie Lucow with Semiahmoo Midwives says she learned about the plan to close the ward when a press release was issued and has been working with clients to try to handle the logistical and emotional fallout ever since.

“Clients are scared. It’s a true safety concern. I know that Fraser Health has said that it’s a safety reason to close, but we’re looking at it from the other side. Asking someone to drive 30 minutes during active labour, asking them to drive 30 minutes during a medical emergency is just a scary prospect. We’ve had near misses in the past of people trying to get to Langley,” she says.

“There is no real plan that actually involved all of us care providers to figure out how these people are going to get care or how it’s going to work. A lot of people don’t even know where the hospital is. So there’s a lot of logistic things that are extremely problematic on short notice.”

RELATED: ‘Very scary’: Expectant parents diverted from Lower Mainland hospitals, lack of resources increase risk

Further, the midwifery practice is set up to serve patients who want to deliver at Peace Arch. The clinic itself is near the hospital, and the midwives themselves can’t necessarily get to Langley as quickly. More troubling for Lucow and her clients is the very real possibility that the closure will be permanent, and that it comes amid a shortage of maternity beds throughout the region.

“We’re terrified of it actually being permanent because of the impact it’s going to have on our community. It’s not unusual for us to send patients to Abbotsford, to Royal Columbian. We do that sort of thing already. Now we’re talking about closing another unit? So what is that going to mean for all the other sites? This is not just a very small, White Rock-South Surrey problem.”

Dr. Rogan Thavarajah, board chair of the White Rock-South Surrey Division of Family Practice, says family doctors in the area are so concerned by the decision they took the unprecedented step of speaking out against the health authority.

“It is my understanding that this decision was made without any consultation with the affected pediatric, or maternity doctors, family physicians, or the public. The reason for this is that their intention is for this to be a permanent closure. I think that calling this a ‘temporary’ closure is misleading. In their media release, they expressed no concern for the women affected by this closure, nor for the dedicated physicians and staff that have been working tirelessly under a very difficult situation.”

“They have shown through their actions, contempt for the public, affected physicians, and their community partners. Our community deserves better.”

He also says the move puts expectant moms and babies at risk, and that he has grave concerns that Surrey Memorial and Langley Memorial will not be able to handle any more patients.

“The closure would result in a rapidly growing population of over 100,000 left without dedicated maternity services and see approximately 1,000 deliveries per year diverted to Langley Memorial Hospital,” he says.

“We believe that this endangers the safety of patients in our community and creates unsafe conditions.”

Both Thavarajah and Lucow say they fail to see how a temporary closure will help bit recruiting or retaining staff to work in the unit.

“If we close for three months, is that going to draw pediatricians to us? No. That’s not going to change anything. What we’re going to do instead is we’re going to lose nurses, we’re going to ilose GPs, we’re going as obstetricians,” Lucow says.

RELATED: More new moms speak out about traumatic labour, delivery in Fraser Health

Mayor Doug McCallum says Surrey memorial is already “overloaded.” haveing previously served as the Chair of Peace Arch Hospital, he says the problem staffing the maternity ward with pediatricians is one he is familiar with. He thinks the closure can and should be avoided.

“it doesn’t make any sense to close down the maternity — find some doctors from outside the region for a temporary basis to keep it going,” he says.

“We can do a lot to help, working with Fraser Health, if they allow us to help us solve this problem.”

For Walsh, she says the lack of accessible maternity and pediatric care is a source of ongoing stress for her family, so much so that questions whether they should move somewhere else.

“We have a child who had a heart condition and she’s four years old. She has gone to distress before and we’ve had to drive her to Surrey and distress because we don’t have pediatricians at Peace Arch. We’ve had pregnancy stresses and had to drive way too far,” she says.

“This is truthfully affecting — potentially — the rest of our lives, and where we choose to reside.”

Fraser Health has not yet responded to CityNews’ request for comment.