Birthing unit at Pontiac Hospital still closed after nearly 2 years

What was originally planned as a six-month closure of the obstetrics department at the Pontiac Hospital has lasted for nearly two years due to an ongoing nursing shortage.

Le Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO) announced in February 2020 the Shawville, Que., hospital would temporarily close the department while they tried to rebuild the obstetrics team.

But since then, CISSSO has been unable to bring in or retain any new nurses who specialize in pregnancy and childbirth.

There are currently only three nurses trained in obstetrics who work at the hospital, but it would take 12 to provide comprehensive and safe care for mothers and babies in the Pontiac, according to CISSSO.

The closure has meant mothers have had to travel outside the region — over an hour in some cases — to give birth.

Since the beginning of the year the Gatineau Hospital has birthed 23 babies from the Pontiac region, while others have gone to the Pembroke Hospital on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River.

Expecting mother prepares for 1-hour trek

Samantha Smith has given birth four times at the Pontiac Hospital, but will have to make the trek to Pembroke when her fifth child is due next month.

"It's very stressful to think of it. You're going to another hospital where you haven't really met the doctor who is going to deliver, or the team," she said.

What's most stressful for Smith is thinking about the hour-long drive it will take to get to Pembroke when she is in labour.

"We can't predict how fast the delivery will come and I don't want to be stranded on the side of the road delivering," she said.

With the ongoing shortage CISSSO doesn't have a definitive timeline on when the department will reopen.

"It is difficult for us at the moment to determine," a CISSO spokesperson said in a French statement to Radio-Canada.

In the six months prior to the closure in February 2020, the unit had shut down 14 times.

Jane Toller, warden of the Pontiac's regional council of 18 local mayors, said she doesn't blame CISSSO for being unable to find new nurses, noting the biggest obstacle is a salary discrepancy between Ontario and Quebec.

"Until the government ratifies the salaries to make it equal to Ontario, there is no point in trying because we cannot keep nurses," she said.

"I think the longer that you keep a department closed, the greater chances that it may never reopen."

Despite those concerns, Toller said council is planning to increase the pressure on the provincial government by circulating a petition demanding the unit be reopened, something Smith is fully behind.

"We are going to continue this fight with all the locals and expecting moms around because we deserve our obstetrics opened," Smith said.