Pontiac residents concerned about 6-month birthing unit shutdown
Protest planned for Monday morning in Gatineau
People who rely on the Pontiac Hospital are planning to protest today over the decision to close its birthing unit for the next six months.
On Friday, the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO) announced the unit at the Shawville, Que., hospital would have to close due to staffing shortages.
Right now, there are only three nurses trained in obstetrics working at the hospital. In order for the unit to run comprehensively, there needs to be 12, the health authority said.
The hospital has been forced to close 14 times since August 2019 because of a lack of staff, but the current closure is by far the longest.
"A community hospital is a very important aspect of a small community," said Josey Bouchard, a spokesperson with La Voix du Pontiac, one the groups organizing today's protest at the Hull Hospital in Gatineau.
"The hospital needs to have surgeons, needs to have obstetrics, needs to have an ER. And when you lose one of those services then you sort of 'fragilize' the whole organization."
Bouchard's group is calling on the health authority to hold a public meeting to explain their plan of action.
Mothers worried
Claudee Galipeau, a resident of Mansfield-et-Pontefract, Que., gave birth to her two children at the Pontiac Hospital.
She said she worries mothers-to-be in her area won't have the same opportunity, as the closure means they may have to travel to hospitals in Gatineau — a trip that could take more than two hours.
"A lot can happen in two hours," Galipeau said.
"It is worrisome for expecting mothers that are due, probably, in the next few weeks and some in the next few months. [Especially if it's] their first child, because you don't know what to expect, right?"
At Friday's news conference, CISSSO representatives said the closure would not be permanent, adding they plan to build up the obstetrics unit team during the closure.
The health authority said mothers can also still access their doctors or midwives while the unit is shuttered.
On Monday morning, around 15 people gathered outside the Hull Hospital to protest the closure. They held signs with the slogan, "No, we will not let our hospital that was already a model fall like this."
They were joined by Shawville Mayor Sandra Murray and Pontiac MNA André Fortin.
Inside the hospital, Mathieu Lacombe, the minister responsible for the Outaouais, said the Quebec government understands protesters' concerns, but given the current situation, closure was the best decision for the Pontiac Hospital.
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With files from Radio-Canada's Yasmine Mehdi