When my kids were born ( 8 yrs ago), we had to be transfered to Terrace and then Smithers for the delivery and, no, they weren’t planned c-sectioned. The expecting mothers of that time never new where they were going to give birth. Thimgs are a little better now. I’m just sayin’.
Not every Dr. is even trained in pre-natal care so this is giving women Doctors who do have that education. We are lucky in this remote community to have the services we do have in many areas of the medical practice. Like someone else mentioned there are something like 3000 people in this town without a Dr. so hopefully these mom’s and their partners and parents will appreciate that fact when they get seen by any Dr. Half the time your personal Dr. is not on rotation anyway when you pop so I fail to see what the fuss is. I have had the same Dr. in town for 5 years and I would be a long long way from saying he knows me, I don’t like him, can’t get a new one and wish we had a walk in clinic instead. The comment made about most the Doctors being trained in South Africa is way off base, what does that have to do with continuity of care? Head south and try and get a specialist of any kind or get seen in an Emergency ward. Head south and get in line down there for pre-natal.
Bettyboop, being pregnant or having given birth in the past does not make one an expert in pre-natal care. Medical school does.
Do you not think the doctors and nurses in town are aware of the possible issues you mentioned with the new system? Do you not think they weighed those negatives against the benefits before coming to this decision?
[quote=“eccentric”]Bettyboop, being pregnant or having given birth in the past does not make one an expert in pre-natal care. Medical school does.
Do you not think the doctors and nurses in town are aware of the possible issues you mentioned with the new system? Do you not think they weighed those negatives against the benefits before coming to this decision?[/quote]
Ah your statement is true on being an expert in pre-natal. However; many expecting mothers do have a relationship with their doctors and they have no choice with this new procedure put in place.
As for the doctors and nurses knowing the negative and positives, I have mentioned there are pros and cons to this new system. Just why not include the public what they would like to input. There was no consultation with the expecting mothers nor was there any notification. Expecting mothers were told, not asked. And some doctors who do deliver and have offered prenatal care are not given a choice to assist their patients.
If this is the start of a private clinic, then what is next for the public? Sure NHA is in support of this, but why not have it in a private clinic vs hospital. I honestly thought the hospital was for patients and beds vs convenience of some doctors? Terrace doctors have their own building and yes pay for their space and added to the tax base for the community vs this plan.
If our doctors want to run this as a business, do they have a business license (within the city they reside and work in) like any other business owner?
I’m not sure I’m in favour of consultation when we’re talking about health care. Are we consulted when radiologists decide a new type of imaging machine is superior to an old one, or when a gynecologist decides a new brand of birth control poses less risks than an old one? No, and we shouldn’t be.
[quote]
If this is the start of a private clinic, then what is next for the public? Sure NHA is in support of this, but why not have it in a private clinic vs hospital…
If our doctors want to run this as a business, do they have a business license (within the city they reside and work in) like any other business owner?[/quote]
How exactly does taking materinty care away from individual practices and into a centralized clinic make it privatized?
[quote=“eccentric”]
I’m not sure I’m in favour of consultation when we’re talking about health care. Are we consulted when radiologists decide a new type of imaging machine is superior to an old one, or when a gynecologist decides a new brand of birth control poses less risks than an old one? No, and we shouldn’t be.
[quote]
If this is the start of a private clinic, then what is next for the public? Sure NHA is in support of this, but why not have it in a private clinic vs hospital…
If our doctors want to run this as a business, do they have a business license (within the city they reside and work in) like any other business owner?[/quote]
How exactly does taking materinty care away from individual practices and into a centralized clinic make it privatized?[/quote]
Of course you are not in favour of consultation eccentric as there are many you know who are not at all. Sure we had a group from NHA come to the community (last year) to gather information and spoke of the importance of the people having a doctor for their care. So some residence have been asking NHA for more doctors here for years and finally we got how many? 3? 5?
The green clinic was open so those who do not have a doctor can go there, so has NHA notified those who do not have a doctor that they may have a family physician vs going to emergency for care?
So really you are saying the people in the north, especially those who are not centered around PG, just need to be thankful for the services we are receiving from NHA and have no say on improving the services in our own community? Exactly where does one go to say something?
And by the way, just like some who continually show up for council meetings, the respect and suggestions are not taken serious and hope those who are courageous enough to speak up are just ignored and comments/suggestions, in one ear and out the other.
Decisions will be made whether some people like it or not. Just wish those who are in position of making decisions listen to all people, not just the few they consider know everything.
These expecting mothers have no choice to stay with their family physicians who do prenatal care and deliveries and that is sad. Not to mention, post natal care is back to the family physicians if they have one. So what happens to the women for post natal care? There are some Grandparents who are also upset and worried about the expecting mothers and their future grandchild because of the stress this is putting on the mothers.
as the population of rupert goes down the tubes so does the number of people requiring hospital beds. As methods of treatment improve, again down go the number of people requiring hospital beds.
Our hospital is huge and most of it sits empty and un used. To have maternity under one roof makes sense.
We have too few doctors in town even with the huge population drop. They are over worked by too many hours in the clinics and in doing emerg rotations and O.R. rotations. Many of them have also rather oddly attempted to start normal lives here…they get married have children…their children attend our schools and dance and skating. They are part of our community and for the most part they only wish to do whats right and best for ALL of us.
Myself, when I had my child we had a shortage of nurses and I had to deliver in smithers surrounded by people I didnt know in a hospital I had never set foot in. It made for a long lonely time…but I tell you when push came to shove…literally…while trying to push that baby out the damn janitor could have stepped up to deliver her and I would have kissed him.
Im not saying we should settle for substandard care…nor am I saying that just because we are in Rupert we should feel lucky to have any care. What Im saying is we need to appreciate the people who work damn hard up here to care for us. Often at the detriment to their own lives. Having the docs who deliver share the workload…have central care for all delivering moms will IMHO only be better for the pregnant population at large. Expecting your Doc to be on 24/7 so they can personally deliver your baby sounds lovely in theory but I would rather mine had a good sleep the night before maybe even a good dinner under his belt.
So rather than rage at attempting something to ease patient care how about being supportive for not just the medical staff but for the Moms too…and if it doesnt work…lets do something then.
Bubba, I was just in Prince George and at the hospital there by the switchboard, they have a notice for those who do not have a doctor to contact the College of Physicians. I wonder, has anyone seen anything at PRRH or any of their doctor’s office?
Information is important so people know, but when there are services available and no advertisement or press releases, how does one get the information?
[quote=“Bettyboop86”]
Bubba, I was just in Prince George and at the hospital there by the switchboard, they have a notice for those who do not have a doctor to contact the College of Physicians. I wonder, has anyone seen anything at PRRH or any of their doctor’s office?
Information is important so people know, but when there are services available and no advertisement or press releases, how does one get the information?[/quote]
There was a notice in my doctors’ office stating anyone in need of medical attention, not currently with a physician, should seek medical attention at the PRRH. But then if you do not have a physician, highly unlikely you would be there to see it !! We are a small town, word travels quickly and I think sometimes it can be a benefit. Folks know they have to go to emerg. if they do not have a doctor, I don’t see what the problem is here really. I had a client in my office on Wed., living without a primary doctor who was excited that was going to change for her with the new clinic so I think that is a good thing, isn’t it? Why do we always look for the negative, isn’t there enough of that in this town already?
Codybear, really appreciate your comment and glad to hear someone is excited about this new clinic. As mentioned in previous posts, there are pros and cons to this new clinic. If this was a pilot project and voluntary, I do believe I would not have much concern about it. It is those expected mothers who do have a family physician and no choice and after the baby is born can go back to their family physician, that is my concern. I do hope that expected mother can also receive post natal care, not just during her pregnancy.
On another note, since we had some new doctors arrive to the community, have they set up family practices or things will just be run as clinics? What about those 3,000-5,000 without family physicians, have they been notified to let them know about the new doctors and possibility of being able to find a family physician? It is my hope they can but again, NHA’s communication to the people here and surrounding area has not been good.
Betty…
I understand your frustration with the change of the Maternity process in Rupert, but I have to tell you that I believe you are just stressing yourself out more by worrying so much about it. Unfortunately, this is the way it is going to be done in Rupert for now, so rather than fight it, you should try and get the most out of it.
I have delivered 2 babies… one through a Maternity Clinic and one in Rupert before the changes. Both times my deliveries were done by a doctor I had never met before. My only concern… that my babies were delivered safely by a doctor. I didn’t care who. Realisticly even if you go to your family doctor throughout your pregnancy, there is still a chance you will be seen by a different doctor when you are ready to deliver. I would much rather know that I would have a doctor to deliver my baby in Rupert… rather than worry that I may have to go out of town to deliver.
There were pros and cons to both of my experiences… but honestly, I wouldn’t say that I prefered my family doctor over the Maternity doctors. Being able to go to different doctors allowed me to get a wide variety of information and opinions from the different doctors that I saw.
When I went to my family doctor, I felt that she was not as comfortable as the maternity doctors, it just wasn’t her specialty. If it was my first pregnancy, I think I would have felt very un-informed and unsure throughout my pregnancy.
When I went to the Maternity Clinic, there were 6 Doctors. I saw 4 of them throughout my pregnancy and they were extremely knowledgable and helpful. They all made me feel very comfortable. Then when I went to the hospital I was there for 4 days and saw 1 that I hadn’t seen yet and 3 that I had seen previously. When it came time for my baby to be born, it was the 1 doctor that I hadn’t seen yet who was there and she did a fine job. The nurses were around more than the doctors anyways, and they were there to keep the doctor updated and informed on how things were going.
It’s really not a bad thing… having a maternity clinic just means that the doctors will continue delivering babies here because they have less stress this way. I myself can’t imagine ever delivering a baby and how stressful it must be (from a doctors perspective.)
I agree with you about the hours, though… but I am sure if the workload gets too much, they will add another day. And I am sure that in emergencies you could be seen at the ER or by your family doctor. I bet you would have better luck getting into the maternity clinic within a week than your family doctor anyways. I know that my family doctor is booking for 3 weeks from now.
I would suggest that you just be patient. In the end you will have a beautiful baby… no matter who delivers it 
That’s just my opinion 
[quote=“newintown”]Betty…
I understand your frustration with the change of the Maternity process in Rupert, but I have to tell you that I believe you are just stressing yourself out more by worrying so much about it. Unfortunately, this is the way it is going to be done in Rupert for now, so rather than fight it, you should try and get the most out of it.
I have delivered 2 babies… one through a Maternity Clinic and one in Rupert before the changes. Both times my deliveries were done by a doctor I had never met before. My only concern… that my babies were delivered safely by a doctor. I didn’t care who. Realisticly even if you go to your family doctor throughout your pregnancy, there is still a chance you will be seen by a different doctor when you are ready to deliver. I would much rather know that I would have a doctor to deliver my baby in Rupert… rather than worry that I may have to go out of town to deliver.
There were pros and cons to both of my experiences… but honestly, I wouldn’t say that I prefered my family doctor over the Maternity doctors. Being able to go to different doctors allowed me to get a wide variety of information and opinions from the different doctors that I saw.
When I went to my family doctor, I felt that she was not as comfortable as the maternity doctors, it just wasn’t her specialty. If it was my first pregnancy, I think I would have felt very un-informed and unsure throughout my pregnancy.
When I went to the Maternity Clinic, there were 6 Doctors. I saw 4 of them throughout my pregnancy and they were extremely knowledgable and helpful. They all made me feel very comfortable. Then when I went to the hospital I was there for 4 days and saw 1 that I hadn’t seen yet and 3 that I had seen previously. When it came time for my baby to be born, it was the 1 doctor that I hadn’t seen yet who was there and she did a fine job. The nurses were around more than the doctors anyways, and they were there to keep the doctor updated and informed on how things were going.
It’s really not a bad thing… having a maternity clinic just means that the doctors will continue delivering babies here because they have less stress this way. I myself can’t imagine ever delivering a baby and how stressful it must be (from a doctors perspective.)
I agree with you about the hours, though… but I am sure if the workload gets too much, they will add another day. And I am sure that in emergencies you could be seen at the ER or by your family doctor. I bet you would have better luck getting into the maternity clinic within a week than your family doctor anyways. I know that my family doctor is booking for 3 weeks from now.
I would suggest that you just be patient. In the end you will have a beautiful baby… no matter who delivers it
That’s just my opinion [/quote]
I appreciate your opinion and there are many who also share the same views as you have mentioned.
However; all the doctors on rotation are not all maternity specialist, some are family doctors that have been in our community for sometime and do have patients that are expecting but am unsure they had a choice of monitoring prenatal care of their patients. The other doctors, they are new to our community and working out of the walk-in clinic (Greene).
There were 3,000-5,000 people in Rupert not including surrounding area without a family physician. NHA said they were on recruiting more doctors for our area but were waiting for immigration on some of the applications. BC and Canada have great universities and in fact our community was for the medical training at UNBC, but as we know, PG will skim the cream of the crop for their area. Nurses wanted to come back to Rupert and were told no so there are some down in the Interior vs coming back to the community.
Post natal care is important also, not just prenatal. We have lack of communication with figures to back up our situation here in the NW. If no one says anything, NHA believes everything is well and so the communities follow status quo.
As mentioned before there are pros and cons to this new clinic. Mandatory vs voluntary, the expecting mothers do not have a choice. As for the 4th floor being used for the clinic, I honestly thought the hospital was for patients not doctors’ clinics. There are some doctors who do have their practices downtown and have their own buildings and contributing to the city’s tax base, this maternity clinic is not paying anything, it is all paid by NHA.
I honestly would like to see more family physicians here and those who care about the patients and the people here vs just a business. And have doctors who really want to be here helping the people in rural areas vs putting time in and then moving on.
I know many disagree with my opinions and that is fine, but I am open to finding the truth about situations in our community. I do care about our community and surrounding area and would like to see all benefit and increase the services to the people.
(PS My children are all grown and I did have a family physician throughout my pregnancies whom I trusted and was blessed with. I am thankful that I did have a choice).
So, if the Maternity Clinic was somewhere other than at the hospital, you would be happier about it?
And what are you so concerned about… if you are not using the Maternity Clinic anyways? Just let it be.
And, you probably didn’t have a choice when you were pregnant, cause it was the family doctors then for pre-natal care, there was no Maternity Clinic.
Lets just be thankful that we have doctors here willing to deliver the babies, and move on. Who knows… maybe this will turn out to be a wonderful clinic
[quote=“newintown”]So, if the Maternity Clinic was somewhere other than at the hospital, you would be happier about it?
And what are you so concerned about… if you are not using the Maternity Clinic anyways? Just let it be.
And, you probably didn’t have a choice when you were pregnant, cause it was the family doctors then for pre-natal care, there was no Maternity Clinic.
Lets just be thankful that we have doctors here willing to deliver the babies, and move on. Who knows… maybe this will turn out to be a wonderful clinic [/quote]
hee hee, perhaps newintown you know more than you let on. I am sorry but no I will not let it be as you mentioned above. I have lived here and the northwest for a long time and I personally know many expected mothers who are not in favour of this clinic. Guess some would like no input as history has shown and people just have to follow status quo and be thankful for what we have. I believe services can be improved through communication. Yes I am thankful there are doctors that are willing to deliver our little ones, but what happens after? Some do have family physicians but many still do not. Sure the public health unit has information and nurses willing to do the follow up, but that is for a short time. I know some who experienced the blues, a family physician who knows their patient would be able to assist the new Mom and help.
Recently an expecting mother visited the clinic and has a good experience with the doctor she saw, however; she did not know that there will be a different doctor on her next visit. She thought she would be seeing the same one and nothing was said to her. Communication is the key to understanding and eliminating fear of the unknown, there just does not seem to be that. The expected mothers do not have a choice and as my previous posts, voluntary vs mandatory, there is a difference.
OK - from what I undersand from a reliable source is that the formation of this clinic has increased the number of doctors delivering babies in prince rupert. There are 8, but that number was about to shrink becasue they weer all wearing out. It has saved the service and greatly improved the lives of the doctors that are participating in the clinic. If I was about to have a baby I probably wouldn’t be too happy either, but at least you can all be safe in the knowledge that you will have a qualified doctor there to catch your baby. And other than those baout to deliver, by the time your due date arrives you’ll know all the doctors anyway.
And for convenience and sfaety, having the clinic in the hospital means all the needed information will be there when you go into labor - even if it’s way early.
The other thing is that I’ve heard the former green clinic is accepting patients. No excuse for anyone to be without a doctor I’ve been told. There’s a sign in the hospital that says so last time I was there.
[quote=“mossINmyTOES”]OK - from what I undersand from a reliable source is that the formation of this clinic has increased the number of doctors delivering babies in prince rupert. There are 8, but that number was about to shrink becasue they weer all wearing out. It has saved the service and greatly improved the lives of the doctors that are participating in the clinic. If I was about to have a baby I probably wouldn’t be too happy either, but at least you can all be safe in the knowledge that you will have a qualified doctor there to catch your baby. And other than those baout to deliver, by the time your due date arrives you’ll know all the doctors anyway.
And for convenience and sfaety, having the clinic in the hospital means all the needed information will be there when you go into labor - even if it’s way early.
The other thing is that I’ve heard the former green clinic is accepting patients. No excuse for anyone to be without a doctor I’ve been told. There’s a sign in the hospital that says so last time I was there.[/quote]
You are right as they have been accepting new patients there for quite awhile now and they have a nice female doctor there also.
It has increased the number of Dr who are able to do maternity work. That is they are not a GP but GP with maternity privileges. I think it is a very good idea, it ensures that we have more Dr’s able to deliver babies. Can you imagine if you had only Dr Pienaar for deliveries and he was was not going to be in town when you delivered? The only option would be to move to Terrace (or somewhere else) for 2-3 weeks until you had your baby away from your friends and family. I think it is a good plan, the Dr’s will not suffer burnout as fast.
Just out of curiousity, does anybody know which doctors are on the maternity rotation list?
I think the clinic is a great idea, for me personally it didnt matter which doctor I had delivering my kidlets. After 9months I just wanted my damn feet back
Throughout both my pregnancies I saw 3 or 4 different doctors, my doc seemed to be away alot. It didnt bother me that I didnt have the same doctor, the quality of my care was consistent and that, to me is the most important thing.
I also think having the mat clinic in the hospital is a good idea, rather than have NHA rent a spot downtown. Its convienent for those expecting to get lab work done, see a doctor, get a check up, etc etc all under one roof. When your 9 month pregnant - the less distance you have to travel the better
I can understand how some people could be weary about it, especially younger first time mothers - but change takes time and everyone will just have to embrace it. Who your doctor is during delivery is not important, the quality of care you and your baby receive is the most important thing.
Thats just my two cents
Please do not get Betty going .