Expectant Mothers Left Behind -- “Rural British Columbians are being treated like second-class citizens”

The BC Conservative Caucus is raising the alarm after a troubling notice from the University Hospital of Northern BC (UHNBC), warning pregnant women that obstetric services may be reduced starting in August due to a shortage of specialists. The notice confirms that some patients may need to be transferred, potentially hundreds of kilometers away, for safe delivery.

UHNBC is the only tertiary care hospital for obstetrics in all of Northern BC. It’s where hospitals from Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Hazelton, Terrace, and Prince Rupert already send high-risk pregnancies. Now, even UHNBC may no longer be able to care for them.

“Northern Health has been aware of this looming obstetrics crisis since January, and there are still no solutions locally or from Victoria. This is what the collapse of a health care system looks like,” said Kiel Giddens, MLA for Prince George–Mackenzie. “If you’re an expectant mother in the North, the message is clear: BC can’t deliver the standard of care you deserve.”

“Rural British Columbians are being treated like second-class citizens,” said Rosalyn Bird, MLA for Prince George–Valemount. “It’s mind-boggling that basic maternal care is disappearing in a G7 country. We’ve reached the point where expecting mothers in Northern BC might be sent hours away to Kamloops or Vancouver to give birth. That’s not care. That’s abandonment.”

Consider these driving times from UHNBC:

• Fort St. John Hospital – 4 hrs 42 mins
• Wrinch Memorial in Hazelton – 4 hrs 47 mins
• Dawson Creek – 4 hrs 9 mins
• Kitimat – 6 hrs 41 mins
• Prince Rupert – 7 hrs 36 mins
• Terrace – 6 hrs 6 mins
• Quesnel (GR Baker Hospital) – 1 hr 18 mins
• Vanderhoof (St. John Hospital) – 1 hr 11 mins
• Bulkley Valley (Smithers) – 3 hrs 59 mins

  
The next nearest tertiary hospital? Royal Inland in Kamloops, more than 5.5 hours away.

“UHNBC is supposed to be the final stop—the place where complicated pregnancies go when other hospitals can’t handle them,” said Brennan Day, MLA for Courtenay–Comox and Opposition Critic for Rural Health and Seniors' Health. “Now even UHNBC is turning people away. This is a total system failure.”

“There’s a national standard of care for obstetrics. It means timely, women-centered, safe care that respects diverse needs. No mother in Northern Health would choose this chaos. BC needs to do better.”

The BC Conservatives are calling on the NDP government to act now: recruit and retain rural health professionals, fix maternity care access, and stop treating rural British Columbians like they don’t matter.