Pregnant women in rural B.C. urged to leave town to deliver

[oneh2obabe]

For pregnant women in Fort Nelson, B.C., part of the prenatal routine includes agreeing not to have their babies in the northern community.

"Due to staffing issues, we are unable to conduct safe obstetric care," says the memo from the health centre. http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/ ... r-CBC.html

An official with Northern Health, which oversees health centres in the region, says while physicians and staff are equipped to respond to an "unplanned delivery," women are advised to leave up to a month before their due date because "the safety of both the mother and the baby must come first."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.4514289

[gman313]

well if there is not enough staff there is not enough staff. can't wave a magic wand

[Veovis]

It would have been nice had cbc not tagged Weyburn Sask story in as if the two places were similar in location, or that the situations were the same.

A month before due date in Northern BC and recommended to seek a better care facility does not equal 1 week overdue driving around the prairies.

None the less it is unfortunate to have care changing, but I remember as a kid in Sask there were small towns with hospitals, and it becomes less and less possible to maintain them at the levels we would like.

It would be nice if Ft Nelson could get the proper employees to maintain this service but perhaps it isn't possible, at least they are being upfront with people and we are hearing "we had to go elsewhere" not "our child died due to improper staff"

[Jhunter199]

well if there is not enough staff there is not enough staff. can't wave a magic wand

Yep not a lot you can do about that. In a country that seems to be short on Doctors everywhere, seems like getting a Doctor wanting to be placed in Ft. Nelson when they pretty much have their choice of any city, township, or community in the Country.

[gman313]

Yep not a lot you can do about that. In a country that seems to be short on Doctors everywhere, seems like getting a Doctor wanting to be placed in Ft. Nelson when they pretty much have their choice of any city, township, or community in the Country.

Bingo, I really feel the solution lies in immigration and foreign credential recognition. We have a lot of doctors driving taxi cabs.

Now, a doctor is an incredibly important position and not every country has the same level of training and standards as Canada, but lots do. We really need to find a way to approve these people to practice.

I also think the problem is partially our own perception, if your doctor is a different skin color or comes from a different background I think some people take issue with that...Maybe? I certainly don't in fact the best doctors visit I ever had was with an Asian doctor in Vancouver.

[Veovis]

There is also the fact that even the doctors we do get, fewer and fewer want anything to do with delivering babies anymore.

[Jhunter199]

Couldn't agree more, I was in a pretty bad accident 3 years ago in Iraq. The Trauma surgeon I had was phenomenal!!! Prior he spent 4 years with the US military training them on field dressing soldiers. The injury I had along with the reports when I came back to Canada floored our surgeons. All 4 of them told me straight up that they would not have attempted saving my leg and would have amputated. The Iraqi doctor joked with me after a week saying that mine was easy, most of the time he spends 1-2 hours removing shrapnel and then has to re-attach the limbs.
He has tried 3 times to relocate to Canada to practice medicine and has been denied all 3 times.

[seewood]

Bingo, I really feel the solution lies in immigration and foreign credential recognition. We have a lot of doctors driving taxi cabs.Now, a doctor is an incredibly important position and not every country has the same level of training and standards as Canada, but lots do. We really need to find a way to approve these people to practice.I also think the problem is partially our own perception, if your doctor is a different skin color or comes from a different background I think some people take issue with that...Maybe? I certainly don't in fact the best doctors visit I ever had was with an Asian doctor in Vancouver.

I thought Canada could offer the doctors from other countries that do not have our standards/training the upgrading required and have them do a 5 year stint in these smaller communities to reimburse the cost of upgrading. I would not mind my tax dollars being spent on a program like or similar.

[gman313]

There is also the fact that even the doctors we do get, fewer and fewer want anything to do with delivering babies anymore.

interesting I have not heard that. our doctor said it was his favorite part of the job...

source?

[dirtybiker]

There is also the fact that even the doctors we do get, fewer and fewer want anything to do with delivering babies anymore.

My perception is many would prefer volume (10 people with the sniffles) as
opossed to one person with a long term care situation.

On another point ethnicity is a non-issue but, communication is key.
Some peoples heavy accents can be tough to get the ears wrapped around.

[Veovis]

There is also the fact that even the doctors we do get, fewer and fewer want anything to do with delivering babies anymore.

interesting I have not heard that. our doctor said it was his favorite part of the job...

source?

People I know mainly, so certainly circumstantial friends working in the field as well as our friends that had kids in the past decade found their GP's sending them to OBGYN for the pregnancy and birth.

Our GP saw us all the way through and we loved it as it was my wife's doctor who she knew and trusted for years and made it more comforting than "who are you".

So no, on this I don't have hard stats to back it up, just what I've come across.

[gman313]

If I understand correctly doctors are paid by MSP on a per visit basis. So as one person has mentioned if you can pump 10 people through with the sniffles in the same amount of time it takes to care for one pregnant person then the doctor gets 10x the revenue for ignoring the pregnancy and taking the sniffles.....that could also be part of the problem

[Bsuds]

If I understand correctly doctors are paid by MSP on a per visit basis. So as one person has mentioned if you can pump 10 people through with the sniffles in the same amount of time it takes to care for one pregnant person then the doctor gets 10x the revenue for ignoring the pregnancy and taking the sniffles.....that could also be part of the problem

Except they are only allowed x number per day. That is why some of the walk in clinics have to close early. Only so many patients per Dr working.

[rustled]

If I understand correctly doctors are paid by MSP on a per visit basis. So as one person has mentioned if you can pump 10 people through with the sniffles in the same amount of time it takes to care for one pregnant person then the doctor gets 10x the revenue for ignoring the pregnancy and taking the sniffles.....that could also be part of the problem

Except they are only allowed x number per day. That is why some of the walk in clinics have to close early. Only so many patients per Dr working.

They're probably trying to ensure the doctor is spending the time necessary, but surely to goodness there's a better way than "by the numbers". Patients are not widgets.

ETA: Deliveries are unpredictable and pull GPs from their regular hours. I wreaked havoc with my GP's schedule by having him deliver all three of mine during his office hours.

[Veovis]

If I understand correctly doctors are paid by MSP on a per visit basis. So as one person has mentioned if you can pump 10 people through with the sniffles in the same amount of time it takes to care for one pregnant person then the doctor gets 10x the revenue for ignoring the pregnancy and taking the sniffles.....that could also be part of the problem

However the reason you saw the doctor does change what gets billed to MSP, but 10 sniffles will always be the $$ route.