“One hundred per cent of physicians support that we need to provide that service, but it needs to be provided in a safe manner,” says Dr. Douwe Kits, site chief of medical staff in Brooks.

For now, Dr. Kits asks Brooks and area women to be patient and continue to travel to Medicine Hat or Calgary to deliver their children — simply for the safety of those babies.

“One of the big issues that we’re facing is that people are electing to wait until there is not a choice and the doctor (working in emergency in the Brooks hospital) has to deliver,” says Dr. Kits. “It’s not safe. We’re seeing a trend. As physicians we do not want to deliver in an unsafe environment.”

Once obstetrics is returned to Brooks hospital, the goal is to have 80 per cent of the doctors in the city helping provide the service.

Brooks and area women have had to travel to other centres, such as Medicine Hat, to deliver their babies since obstetric services were removed in February of 2009. It was halted because of safety concerns due to physician shortages.

“We ran out of resources,” he adds, about why it was necessary to shut down obstetrics when the number of doctors who could perform the necessary service dwindled to four.

“You have to have caesarean capability as a back up,” says Dr. Kits. “Brooks is an hour away from Medicine Hat and if you don’t have that capability and you run into difficulties it can have tragic results.”

Dr. Erich Van der Linde just moved to Brooks in February and he has the ability to perform caesarean sections and general practice anesthetic services. Dr. Piet Hancke will arrive near the end of March and needs to be assessed still to ensure he has caesarean skills.

Dr. Kits says work is still being done to attract an additional two doctors to the city who will start in the summer.

“It’s looking like as far as medical manpower, we will have enough to resume obstetric services ... early to mid-summer,” says Dr. Kits.

There are about 14 physicians in Brooks, but likely room for two or three more in the community. Dr. Kits says 80 per cent of the doctors will help provide obstetric services, meaning the burden will be shared among more people.

“The agreement is there that this is an essential service and needs to be provided in Brooks ... As a physician group, we have agreed on the equitable division of labour,” says Dr. Kits, pointing out those doctors who won’t be involved in obstetrics will pick up a few more shifts in the hospital emergency room and clinic.

Recruitment of physicians began in earnest last fall when the City of Brooks partnered with the County of Newell and a number of local physicians to discuss ideas and help facilitate recruitment and retention of physicians into the Brooks area.

Work is also being done at the hospital to create three birthing rooms and eventually establishing a hospital-based maternity clinic, similar to what exists in Medicine Hat. This is the vision the doctors and Alberta Health Services officials have for the community in the years to come.

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