Coronavirus: Fort Saskatchewan hospital resumes labour and delivery services

The Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital has resumed labour and delivery services two months after they were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alberta Health Services said the hospital’s Women’s Health Program resumed obstetrical services at 8 a.m. Tuesday for patients that are not COVID-19 positive or presumptive.

The services were suspended at the hospital northeast of Edmonton on April 14 and anyone planning to deliver at the hospital was redirected to other facilities.

In a media release Tuesday morning, AHS said physicians and midwives at the FSCH will screen patients for COVID-19 prior to delivery.

Anyone who tests positive or is a presumptive case of COVID-19 will be referred or transferred to the Sturgeon Community Hospital, the Misericordia Community Hospital, the Grey Nuns Community Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital’s Lois Hole Hospital for Women, if delivery is not imminent. This practice will remain in place for the duration of the pandemic, AHS said.

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As of Monday afternoon, there were 440 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta. According to data from Alberta Health, Fort Saskatchewan had no active cases of the disease as of Monday afternoon when the latest information was released.