For 12 hours overnight Sunday, the obstetrical unit at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) in Barrie was closed to women in labour.
An initial news release sent out by the hospital on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 3) cited a “physician shortage” as the reason obstetrical and midwifery patients had been redirected to either Southlake Regional Health Centre (SRHC) in Newmarket or Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH). The situation was declared over on Monday morning.
However, the decision to redirect obstetrical and midwifery patients was not taken lightly, acknowledged Dr. Jeff Tyberg, the local hospital’s chief of staff and vice-president academic and medical affairs. He noted all decisions are made with the safety of patients in mind.
“Our teams do everything possible to cover 24-hour, seven-day-a-week on call services, however on the rare occasion unexpected illnesses do occur," Tyberg said. "Like all physician groups at RVH, our obstetrical team did everything they could to cover, but were unable to fill a 12-hour period of time, which resulted in a redirect of services.
“A family physician, with extensive obstetrics experience, stepped up to cover in the event a patient could not be redirected due to advanced labour process," he added.
Tyberg expressed his thanks to staff at OSMH and SGHC for stepping up to help with the two patients who were redirected during that 12-hour period.
No midwifery clients were affected by the recent redirect of services from RVH, confirmed Marie Smith-Lutz, on behalf of Barrie Midwives.
“We continue to value our collaboration with RVH, which has spanned more than 25 years," she said. "We understand the challenges faced by on-call care providers and support decisions made by the RVH senior leadership team."
Smith-Lutz also said a team was ready to step in and help should the need have arisen.
“This would not have been an easy resolution, but we are confident that it was made in the best interest of our community," she added.
Regular obstetrical and midwifery services have since resumed.
RVH currently has a complement of seven obstetricians, which hospital officials note is the appropriate number for a hospital of its size and the volumes it sees.
Those physicians provide 24-7, year-round, in-house coverage and “has done so for many years without a single episode requiring a redirect due to physician coverage," Tyberg said.
The birthing unit had to redirect patients during the pandemic, however that was due to a nursing shortage.
“Like other physician groups at RVH, the obstetricians are extremely dedicated to patient care and have contributed to the virtually seamless physician coverage of the emergency department and many specialty services at RVH before, during and after the pandemic,” said Tyberg.
RVH physicians have also provided last-minute emergency coverage for several regional hospitals when those sites had physician human resource challenges, he added.
“In this instance, we appreciate the support of our regional partners at Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital and Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket for supporting us during our time of need," Tyberg said.
