The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) has announced a temporary suspension of labour and delivery services at Inuvik Regional Hospital (IRH). The suspension will be in effect from June 30, 2024, until September 8, 2024.
Patients planning to deliver in Inuvik and are at least 36 weeks pregnant up to September 8th will be transitioned to Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife. This requires staying in Yellowknife from the 36-week mark until discharge from postpartum care. The staff will assist affected patients in organizing travel and accommodations during this time.
While attempts will be made to maintain emergency labour and delivery services at IRH amid the service reduction, their availability cannot be guaranteed.
Prenatal and postnatal assessments and care will still be provided at IRH, ensuring continued support. Anyone in Inuvik who is pregnant and requires assessment or who goes into labour during this time should go to the IRH department for care.
The reduction in services is due to a temporary shortfall in qualified obstetric nursing staff. Krystal Pidborochynski, a communications representative for GNWT Health and Social Services, states that recruiting specialized obstetric nurses to the NWT has been a challenge since 2019. The NTHSSA is actively recruiting to address this gap and will continue to assess staffing levels. If shortages continue, there may be a need to extend the service reduction or reintroduce it, which will be communicated in due course.
Efforts to minimize or shorten the service reduction in Inuvik include the NTHSSA’s completion of external and internal requests for personnel with the necessary qualifications to be reassigned to Inuvik, as well as outreach to casual staff to gauge their interest.
Nursing staffing agencies have been contacted to determine whether qualified personnel can be recruited to support the obstetric service at IRH in the short term until staffing levels stabilize. While these efforts have provided some staff, it has not been sufficient to prevent the reduction of services. Inuvik does not a Midwifery program and is not a program that could be leveraged at this time.
Pidborochynski states that the service reduction is expected to lead to roughly one to three extra pregnancies per week at Stanton Territorial Hospital until September. Given the current staffing levels at Stanton, this increase is not anticipated to create significant additional strain.
All affected patients will be contacted. If your delivery date is approaching and you have not been contacted, or if you need more information, call Inuvik Primary Care at (867) 678-8041.
