Researcher asks for rural health investment after Dawson Creek’s only OB-GYN Leaves community

For nine weeks, Dawson Creek, resident of BC, have been without obstetrics and gynecology doctors.

The most recent obstetric-female pathologist (OB-GYN) left the small northern community in this spring, and although there are some options, anyone with high risk will now have to drive up to Fort St. John in one hour north.

The Northern Health Authority said that it is actively recruited to fill the empty situation, which served Census area of ​​about 17,000 people,

It said that anyone who needs care can contact Chikide Clinic in Davson Creek, a maternity clinic with nurses, rights and doctors that can support families through pregnancy and postpartum. For people with more serious needs, they have to move forward.

This comes when BC faces a shortage of health care workers across the province.

Jude Cornsence, co-director of the BC Center for Rural Health Research University, said that a “necessary” is required to fill the gaps of health care services such as obstetric services in rural and remote areas.

“However, this is a very difficult time in health care right now,” she told CBC Debreak North Host Carolina de Rike.

For the last several months, the province has been running a campaign Attract us doctors And BC nurse, and fast track Procedure for some health care providers from other courts to be registered for practice in British Columbia.

But still, doctors are still retiring or moving forward, and thousands of British Columbians remain without a normal businessman, taking care of the expert alone.

After reaching the community in July 2024, Dawson Creek’s most recent Ob-Gine left the spring. Earlier, OB-Gine spent almost two years in Dawson Creek as per Northern Health.

Cornellsen said that small population communities require less expert care during pregnancy – because there are fewer people who will need it – and may have great experiences with family physicians and midwives.

Being a specialist in rural communities can really be challenging, he said, if they do not have enough task to maintain practice.

But if they do, they often have so much that it leads to burnout.

“This is not durable to shoulder to all high -risk care for a provider, namely because they are on too much call at all times,” Cournson said. “I have spoken to many single maternity experts in rural communities and they originally say that to close the time, they have to leave the community, otherwise they feel forced to help when needed.”

There is a rural locomotor Ob-GYN program, bringing physicians to communities for short term. On 8 July, there were there Work Posting For Ob-Gines for both Dawson Creek and Fort St. John.

“We definitely need to strengthen the folk program to ensure that we can get rest to the providers we have in communities,” the cornealson said.

He said that attempts have also been made to support family doctors with “extended surgical skills” so that they can demonstrate low -risk procedures. When it comes to pregnancy and birth, it will include things like C-sections who do not have significant complications, they said.

“They can be available to the locally emergency Caesarean classes, meaning that those congenitals who can probably live with delivery without delivery, they can live in the community to give birth with this assurance that if complications arise, they can be safely seen.”

However, he said, health officials should invest in more team-based care, as it is not only an OB-GYN performance delivery, it is also nurses and other health care activists.

Additionally, there is a need to invest more money towards infrastructure for medical services in those communities.

“We have to continue investing,” he said.