Single obstetrician for 2 N.L. hospitals puts women at risk, MD says
18.06.2008 16:01
Health
- Source: cbc.ca
A temporarily reduced obstetrical service in central Newfoundland may be a recipe for disaster, a local physician says. During the summer months, only one obstetrician will be on call in the province's central region, covering both James Paton Memorial Hospital in Gander and the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre in Grand Falls-Windsor, more than 90 kilometres away. If the obstetrician's services are needed, pregnant women will have to figure out which hospital the obstetrician is at before heading out over the highways to give birth. Shawn Tiller, chief of the emergency room at the Gander hospital, told CBC News he's worried the time-sharing schedule will confuse patients. Tiller said if a woman needing an emergency caesarean section shows up at the wrong hospital, no one there will be trained to do the procedure. "It's the potential for a bad outcome," Tiller said. "You could lose a baby and a mom. That's really speaking in horrific terms, but that is a potential outcome to this scenario." Tiller told CBC News that he and other ER doctors expressed their concerns to the hospitals' governing body, the Central Regional Integrated Health Authority. Tiller said one ER doc even threatened to quit over the issue, but officials at the authority replied that physicians would have to accept the summer schedule situation. Steve Parsons, chief of obstetrics at the Grand Falls-Windsor hospital, said Tiller is ill-informed. There is always time to move a woman in labour to another hospital if need be, Parsons said. "What [Tiller] is doing is he's invoking panic in the public where it's not necessarily a fair thing to do to the public," Parsons said. "What he's talking about is not an accurate representation. In all due respect, he's not an obstetrics specialist." A spokesperson with Central Health said public health nurses and family doctors have informed pregnant women of the summer schedule, and the authority has run an advertising campaign to inform the public about the summer schedule. Story Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: SMLXL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACKRelatedInternal LinksWait-hating patients hurling abuse in Gander ER, MDs sayHealth Headlines4.1 million Canadians without family doctor: StatsCanA new report from Statistics Canada says an estimated 4.1 million Canadians aged 12 or older are without a family doctor.Obese women less likely to be screened for cervical cancer: studyObese women are significantly less likely to be tested for cervical cancer than women of average body weight, a new study has found. TV viewing, computer use linked to obesity: StatsCanCanadian adults who spend hours a day watching television or sitting in front of a computer are more likely to be obese, according to a new Statistics Canada study.Government trust shaken over cancer test uproar, inquiry toldRelations between Eastern Health and the provincial government deteriorated rapidly in May 2007 amid reports of bungled cancer tests, an inquiry has been told.Early puberty, obesity linked to mother's diet during pregnancyChildren whose mothers eat a high-fat diet during pregnancy are likely to enter puberty earlier and become obese as adults, a study suggests. Health FeaturesVIDEOHuman bodyA not-so-virtual tour (2:40)IN DEPTHStem cellsResearch fraught with controversyHEALTH & FITNESSPeter HadzipetrosFit to be downtownCANADA ABROADHospital of hopeHealthVitamin DBoning up on the sunshine vitaminPeople who read this also read …
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