Between Timmins and Thunder Bay, only Sensenbrenner Hospital in Kapuskasing has an operational obstetrics department.

Chief of Staff Dr. Jessica Kwapis said Sensenbrenner currently has three doctors capable of delivering babies, but due to the heavy workload, one of them will resign in December.

Chief of Staff Dr. Jessica Kwapis said Sensenbrenner Hospital had three doctors capable of delivering babies, but due to the heavy workload one of them would resign in December. (Provided)

“We’re back to the situation with two doctors providing coverage who are frankly incapable of maintaining coverage 24/7, 365 days later,” Kwapis said.

“Not only do we need to recruit another GP to fill that third vacancy, but also, in the meantime, we need to be able to provide or bring in locum or guest GPs and provide obstetric care to fill those gaps. “

Sensenbrenner Hospital is also under additional pressure since Notre-Dame Hospital in Hearst closed its obstetrics department in June 2023 due to the retirement of its only obstetrics provider — who also worked seven days a day. seven — unless he’s been out of town — for more than 25 years.

Kwapis said since that retreat, seven Hearst women have given birth outside of a center providing obstetric care.

Sensenbrenner Hospital is the only hospital between Timmins and Thunder Bay with an obstetrics department. Pregnant women are advised to move at 38 weeks. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)

“That includes in a taxi, that includes in an ambulance en route to another hospital, that includes in the toilet of an emergency department where there are no obstetric staff,” she said.

“If you think that seven women, that doesn’t seem like a lot, that’s seven out of 100 women during that period, or seven percent of women who gave birth outside of an obstetric center because there was no no care available to them. This is totally unacceptable and dangerous.”

Kwapis said Sensenbrenner needs provincial funding to pay doctors willing to travel to Kapuskasing to replace him.

No way to pay them

“There is currently no mechanism to pay for a GP to come to a community like Kapuskasing and provide 24/7 availability for obstetric coverage,” she said .

“Over the last few months the hospital has actually paid for this because we were very committed to ensuring that the service could remain open. We thought it was going to be time limited with our service providers are beginning, but it now appears that this will be the case indefinitely.

CTV News requested an interview with the Ministry of Health about the current situation. A spokesperson instead sent an emailed statement. It reads:

“The Ministry of Health is aware of the request from Kapuskasing and Hearst. As this is a brand new proposal, it requires review and collaborative work with the Ontario Medical Association to analyze submission.”

Sensenbrenner Hospital advises pregnant women living in the Hearst area to move at 38 weeks to ensure they are in a safe place when the time comes to give birth, especially with winter approaching.

Kwapis said she was sorry about it and realized it wasn’t financially feasible for many families.

“My advice would be, first of all, to make as much noise as possible about the situation and, if you can talk to your MPP about it yourself… write letters,” she said.

The Ministry of Health said its government launched the largest medical school expansion in more than 15 years, adding hundreds of new undergraduate and residency positions across all of Ontario’s medical schools.

Kwapis said Sensenbrenner Hospital does not have time to wait for students to graduate: it urgently needs funding to tide over the obstetric crisis until it can put a formal agreement in place .