Why does Niagara Health System hate women?

In a city of over 80,000 that is growing by 11% a year, I'm guessing that there are at least a few thousand babies born every year.  Nonetheless, the beancounting braintrust at Niagara Health System has decided to close the maternity ward at both the Niagara Falls and Welland hospitals, forcing women to travel to St. Catharines to give birth.  Which means taking the highway that is slated for construction for the next five years.  h/t to James Curran

Let's put this into perspective for those of you that can't or don't know the geography of the Niagara region. This is liking asking residents of downtown Toronto to deliver their children is Scarborough; or residents of Yaletown or Gastown in Vancouver delivering in Surrey; or residents of Regina delivering in Sedley (only their would be cars on the road on the way); or delivering in Pointe Claire when you live in downtown Montreal. Anyway, I'm sure you get my point here.

Have the members of the NHS never known a women in labour?!?  Honestly, this is one of the most shit-all stoopid ideas I've ever heard.  Luckily Niagara city councilor Jim Diodati feels pretty much the same way.  Well, he doesn't come right out and say "shit-all stoopid".  

The writing was on the wall when the proposed new hospital for St. Catharines having a maternity ward capable of handling the demands for the entire Niagara region, all while that city’s birth rate was in steady decline, he said.

Diodati said despite this being pointed out, Niagara Falls council was assured within the last two years there was no way the maternity ward at GNGH would be shut down.

“A year and a half later they’re telling us exactly what we knew all along,” he said.

Diodati planned to introduce a motion at council Monday night demanding the NHS remove the maternity ward closures as part of its restructuring plan.

He admitted it was unlikely the hospitals board would listen, but vowed to appeal to the Local Health Integration Network which governs the NHS, and the province in order to ensure babies will still be born at the GNGH.
“We’re going to mobilize the people here and let them know how we feel,” said Diodati.

Ohhh...here we go.  Someone at NHS must have a marketing degree.  They want to turn the hospitals into "centres of excellence". 

For instance, Greater Niagara General would become the centre for dental surgery, for plastic surgery along with the St. Catharines hospital, and would become the NHS’s stroke centre with the addition of a dedicated 10-bed acute stroke rehabilitation unit. Greater Niagara would also be the centre for ear, nose and throat surgery for adults, and along with the St. Catharines hospital would be a specialized centre for orthopedic surgery.

General surgical and emergency room services presently operated at the Port Colborne hospital and Douglas Memorial hospital in Fort Erie would be relocated to the big three hospitals in Niagara Falls, Welland and St. Catharines.

Sounds like kind of a good idea.  Until you find out that the NHS considers having a maternity ward in each hospital to be a "wasteful duplication of services".  For reals. 

NHS officials said the changes are necessary because at present, wasteful duplication of services at its various hospitals and an unwieldy model make it impossible for the system to balance its budget.

You heard it right, folks.  Having a baby at a nice clean safe hospital near your home, not stuck in construction gridlock for over an hour on the highway to get to the "Maternity Centre of Excellence", is a wasteful duplication of services.  Well kick my can and call me Nancy. 

As a woman, I am deeply insulted.  As a person who knows many, many women who have had babies and been through all kinds of labour from easy-as-pie to difficult and life-threatening, I am furious that infant and maternal health and mortality take a backseat to budgets and some idiot's "vision".   Having babies is something that happens in every community in the world.  It rarely happens conveniently according to someone's schedule.  Labour and delivery can be very dangerous to mother and baby.   These pointy-headed pencil pushers at the NHS seem to think that it's no big deal, just another specialty like cancer treatment or plastic surgery. 

Dr. William Shragge, chief of staff for the NHS, said the plan — which must be approved by the LHIN — is a chance for the Niagara system to transform itself into one that meets the needs of Niagara residents in a time of rapid change in health care.

Guess what, Dr. William.  Women need easy access to medical services close to home when they go into labour.  Did you miss that month of medical school?   It may be a time of rapid change in health care, but women have babies, just like they always have.  Nothing has changed there.  

If you're in the Niagara region, show Coun. Jim Diodati some love.  (Note - I know next to nothing about him except on this particular issue.  Love him at your own political risk.)  Then make yourself a protest sign, get all your friends together, and let the NHS know that medical care for women in labour and their babies is not a wasteful duplication of services.  

NHS Corporate Office
155 Ontario Street
St. Catharines, ON
L2R 5K3 (Map)

Tel: 905.378.4647
Fax: 905.323.3800

Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN (who NHS is accountable to)
270 Main Street East, Units 1-6
Grimsby ON L3M 1P8

Tel: (905) 945.4930
Fax: (905) 945.1992

Toll Free: 1-866-363-5446
Email:hamiltonniagarahaldimandbrant@lhins.on.ca
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Remember, even though you are as mad as a hornet, convey that as politely as possible when you write or call.   Get crackin'!