Peace Arch Hospital maternity ward to stay open in last-minute reversal

In a last-minute reversal, the Fraser Health Authority says it will no longer be closing the maternity department at White Rock’s Peace Arch Hospital.

Fraser Health president and CEO Dr. Victoria Lee said Thursday that “significant new scheduling commitments” from the hospital’s pediatric group and other “provider partners” had averted a staffing crisis that would have forced the ward to divert patients to Langley.

Last week, the health authority said it would be indefinitely diverting expecting parents-to-be to Langley Memorial Hospital, effective Jan. 28, due to an “unexpected leave.”

The health authority said on Thursday that there could still be “sporadic single-day” diversions when necessary.

Thursday’s reversal came after the health authority, doctors and the provincial Ministry of Health agreed to an alternative payment model for pediatricians at the hospital that acknowledges its lower volume.

Lee said there are between 800 to 1,000 babies born at Peace Arch Hospital every year, compared to between 4,000 and 5,000 annually at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

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“Sometimes the payment models that are based on each of the encounters or services, what’s called a fee for service model, in a lower birth community isn’t as attractive or it’s more difficult to attract pediatricians to those areas,” she said.

“So there’s payment per hour, for example, rather than volume.”

Diversions at the hospital, which does not have a pediatric unit or outpatient clinic, have been a recurring problem. Most recently, new parents were diverted to Langley in July due to a staffing shortage.

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Dr. Darren Lazare, co-program medical director for the maternal infant child youth program, said to operate properly, the maternity ward needs five full-time equivalent (FTE) pediatricians.

There are currently seven pediatricians servicing the department, but they are not all full-time and do not add up to the equivalent of five FTEs, he said.

Fraser Health said it is continuing to “aggressively” recruit a full complement of pediatricians for the hospital to prevent future diversions.