What not to expect…

Vanessa and Brent with Ella in Kingston General Hospital

QHC forced to transport babies to Kingston when it can’t find a doctor

Expecting a baby, particularly for first-time parents, is a stress-filled time. This anxiety is compounded many times over when you learn you must undergo an emergency C-section, or caesarian, six weeks before the due date.

But for Vanessa and Brent Inwood that was just the beginning of harrowing experience they will not soon forget.

The delivery went very well at Belleville General Hospital, according to Brent. Due to the emergency nature of the delivery, Picton hospital wasn’t an option. Both mom and baby received great care from the nurses at Belleville General Hospital, Brent emphasized.

Ella, at 4.5 pounds, arrived small but healthy and she is doing fine. Her parents were advised to expect her stay in hospital until near the due date of July 6.

On Monday Vanessa was released from the hospital. She was buying baby clothes when she received a call from Quinte Health Care.

The voice on the other end of the line explained to Vanessa that due to shortage of pediatricians at the hospital, her baby, and four others, were being packed up and transported to Kingston General later that evening.

“Vanessa called me in tears,” explained Brent. “We went straight back to the hospital to be with her before she went to Kingston. She was one of the last to go—we were with her until about 10 o’clock on Monday night. She left by ambulance to Kingston at about 11:30 pm.”

The new parents were in shock, and struggled to comprehend how something like this could happen. But they weren’t alone. Four other sets of parents were also trying to figure out what was going on with their babies. Why were five ambulances heading out into the night with their vulnerable children to a hospital 80 kilometres away? How would they get to Kingston? How would the rearrange their lives to be with their babies?

“How did they not know any sooner?” asks Brent Inwood incredulously.

It turns out QHC did know. Worse, it turns out it is not an uncommon challenge at BGH. It has struggled to maintain a full complement of pediatricians for many years. Until now QHC officials have managed to fill these gaps with pediatricians from other communities for short-term assignments. But last Tuesday the plan fell apart.

“We had a plan to cover—but weren’t able to deliver on that,” explained Katherine Stansfield, QHC’s vice president & chief nursing officer to the Times. “We believed we had pediatrician coverage— but at the end of the day we didn’t.”

She says it is the first time they have sent babies to another hospital due to the shortage of pediatricians. She hopes it is the last.

Recruiting and retaining pediatricians is not a new problem for QHC, nor for other hospitals such as Peterborough and Cornwall and indeed across the country.

She says many young pediatricians pursue specialized care that is only offered at facilities such as Children’s Hospital in Ottawa or Sick Kids in Toronto. The relative lack of general pediatricians, according to Stansfield, increases the demand for their services and opportunity to work where they choose.

Belleville General isn’t a particularly attractive destination for some simply because the need in this community is so great.

“It is a challenge to come into a setting that has less than a full complement of pediatricians,” acknowledged Stansfield. “The workload is disproportionately high. Anyone coming into this service understands they are going to be very busy.”

For many this heavy workload proves to daunting. So the physicians choose to work elsewhere. The problem at BGH worsens.

Stansfield explained that QHC has, until last Tuesday, filled in with physicians from other communities come who have capacity to fill in on short-term basis.

“These are the kinds of people we rely on,” said Stansfield. “But it is not a foolproof system as we saw this week.”

Brent Inwood has had some time to think about these issues over the past week.

He worries first about his young baby travelling down the 401 at midnight. But he also worries about the cost to the system, which he estimates be about $9,000. Not too far down the list, he worries about what this means to health care in his community.

He and Vanessa have opted to keep Ella in Kingston for now. They have heard QHC is expecting another gap in pediatric physician coverage in BGH next week. He isn’t taking any chances. Ella is getting great care in Kingston and he doesn’t want to risk having her being moved yet again in such a fragile state.

“Due to the C-section Picton wasn’t an option,” explained Brent. “Now our large central hospital can’t provide for us. We are going out of our region for a service we believed should be available here.

“Why don’t we close all these hospitals— and just have helicopters standing by?”

But Stansfield insists QHC will do every thing in its power to avoid a repeat of what happened last week.

She knows it is an extremely stressful experience for the parents of these young and tender babies. Yet she insists it would be a mistake for prospective parents to change their plans based upon this single incident.

“If you have a plan for where their baby is to be born—you should continue with that plan,” said Stansfield. “We have never been in a position where we have not been able to provide support for our births. We are working diligently to cover those gaps on an ongoing basis. With the exception of this one 24-hour period care has been available for all of our babies.

“My advice is to follow your regular plan of care, work with your care provider. Making that decision on your own could put you in a position of jeopardy.”

NO EASY FIX
But what of the bigger picture? Stansfield knows the shortage of pediatricians in this community is a long-term and seemingly intractable problem. Worse, this community due to its need, isn’t attractive to high demand general pediatricians.

Stansfield says the community; can and will likely have to pay more to lure these physicians here—but knows that this won’t solve the long term shortage of these physicians.

In the meantime QHC will continue to rely on locum physicians—those from other communities—to fill in the gaps.

This comes as little comfort to Vanessa and Brent

“I am not trying to be a crusader by any means,” explains Brent. “But this to me seems like terrible management. I feel I have to speak up, I don’t want to see another premature baby go through this.”

Brent feels his daughter is in good hands in Kingston. He is looking forward to the ordinary his first Father’s Day.

“Ella is beautiful. I am thankful,” said Brent.