E-mailed Letter of Support to Alberta MLAs, Banff Town Council, and Media Representatives

On Thursday, March 5, 2009, I e-mailed my Letter of Support to the following people:

BMS HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION
cindy.mulherin@calgaryhealthregion.ca (CEO, Banff Mineral Springs Hospital)

POLITICIANS
banff.cochrane@assembly.ab.ca (Janice Tarchuk, PC MLA, Banff-Cochrane)
health.minister@gov.ab.ca (Honourable Ronald Liepert, Minister of Health and Wellness)
denis.lapointe@assembly.ab.ca (Denis Lapointe, Director, Calgary Office
Alberta Liberal Caucus)
stavros.karlos@banff.ca (Banff Town Councilor)
municipal.clerk@banff.ca (Banff Town Council Municipal Clerk)
john.stutz@banff.ca (Mayor of Banff)
john.gibson@banff.ca (Banff Town Councilor)
chris.macdonald@banff.ca (Banff Town Councilor)
chip.olver@banff.ca (Banff Town Councilor)
karen.sorensen@banff.ca (Banff Town Councilor)
leslie.taylor@banff.ca (Banff Town Councilor)

MEDIA
Larissa@thecrag.ca (Banff Crag & Canyon Local Newspaper)
connie.hempel@ctv.ca (CTV - Calgary)
mlang@theherald.canwest.com (Calgary Herald)
dtetley@theherald.canwest.com (Calgary Herald)
city@thejournal.canwest.com (Edmonton Journal)
globalnews.ed@globaltv.com (Global News - Edmonton)
globalnews.calg@globaltv.com (Global News - Calgary)
globalnews.bc@globaltv.com (Global News - BC)

Also e-mailed several friends in the Banff area who may be able to help spread the word.

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My Letter of Support is as follows:

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Dear Honourable Ministers, Council, Banff Mineral Springs Hospital administration, and media representatives:

Firstly, a sincere thanks to all of you who have already responded to my phone calls and e-mail messages. Your time and input is greatly appreciated.

The very recent news that Banff Mineral Springs Hospital has decided to (temporarily) close its Obstetrics Ward has struck a personal chord. While not an expectant mother, or even family of an expectant mother in Banff, I have very close friends who are awaiting the birth of their first child. This affects them, and as their friend, also affects me. That’s part of being who we are, a community, especially in the Bow Valley, even if we’re not always physically present. I’m nauseated by the fact that such an essential service as obstetrics is even temporarily shuttered.

It doesn’t require a medical degree to imagine all of the emotions tied to the childbirth part of life’s journey: love, excitement, hope, optimism and in most cases, nervousness at becoming new parents. Given the recent Obstetrics Ward closure news, you can add a multitude of other emotions to the already established set: rejection, fear, anger, hurt, deceit, and even a potential result in physical pain. Not a great start to the baby’s life or that of the soon-to-be parents! We try and instill a sense of calm in expectant mothers and yet, the Banff Mineral Springs Hospital has already erased much of the progress in that area. As if the birthing process isn’t stressful enough, the Bow Valley’s expectant families now must be concerned about whether they’ll make it in time, during the historically treacherous winter weather, to deliver their children in the already crowded Canmore General Hospital (assuming their ward isn’t full and the mother is lucky to get in) or Calgary, which is at least an hour and a half drive away and just as busy. Alternatively, and though they wouldn’t be the first, perhaps the expectant mothers might even deliver their children in the ambulance or in their own vehicle while pulled aside on Highway 1. Have you ever had to drive behind a snowplow on the stretch of road between Calgary and Banff during a blizzard? I have done so more than once. It’s certainly not ideal for a prepared driver but even worse for one with an expectant mother as passenger.

This isn’t the stuff of television or movies. This is now a potentially much more real scenario. As you’re well aware, the weather in the Canadian Rockies changes drastically, often several times a day. If a snow or ice storm hits, and a mom-to-be or excited father must make the trip to either of these two alternate cities, not only are the mother’s and child’s life put at risk, but the ambulance or vehicle driver’s life is as well. The potentially fatal outcome is not something any of us want to hear or read about. Fear mongering? I believe not. Trying to reduce the risks to the people involved in that case would be much more accurate a description. If the Banff Mineral Springs Hospital administration was seriously concerned about the safety of expectant mothers and their families, I find this closure, as a general citizen, to be a potentially ill-advised solution.

One cannot forget to think of mothers with any minor to serious health complications, either from before, during, or after pregnancy. This compounds the risks and increases the likelihood of a very dangerous outcome. While I would like to believe that any high-risk pregnancies will be accommodated in Banff or Canmore hospitals if necessary, there is no assurance in place at this point in time, that that will be the case. This thought also has me deeply concerned. I’m even more worried when my friends are involved.

Before this news, Bow Valley parents-to-be have carefully planned the birth with a trusted doctor - in many cases, Dr. Jane Fowke, - and have also made arrangements surrounding current home and work life. For expectant mothers nearing their delivery date, much of this planning now requires re-evaluation, something we shouldn’t be asking for at the last minute. A proper consultation with the community could have at least alleviated some of these worries and allowed parents to modify their plans. It is my understanding that almost none of the women due to give birth in Banff within the next few months were consulted in any way as to the closure. They could have been provided with options, or in turn, they more than likely could have offered possible solutions to the staff nursing shortage.

In an area like the Bow Valley, where residents and visitors are some of the most connected people in North America because of our work in tourism, arts, education, entertainment, leadership and outdoor activities, I find it very difficult to believe that the Banff Mineral Springs Hospital was attempting all that it could to recruit and retrain staff for these Obstetrics positions. Alone, most of our individual social media networks like facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and flickr (not to mention our traditional media contacts in print, radio and TV) list a minimum of 100 people. Many of us have personal and professional networks soaring into several hundred more contacts. If the nursing shortage was truly an issue before this closure, and the Town of Banff and surrounding regions were properly consulted in advance, does the BMSH administration truly believe that we collectively could not have helped locate interested applicants to fill the positions for the Obstetrics Ward? With our sense of community and trust, I cannot see how that initiative would have failed. To the best of my knowledge, and up until very recently, there were absolutely no postings on any of these social media avenues for the vacant positions. These sites are known to have a very high success rate for both employers and potential employees. In fact, almost every other major Bow Valley employer or organization has used Facebook or Craigslist to advertise, promote or share information. Where was the Banff Mineral Springs Hospital? What about specific job search engines like Monster or Workopolis? Difficulty in finding applicants seems a little too far fetched of an excuse.

I do not know the full details of this process, nor can I neglect the tremendous difficulty and weight it must have been in making a decision to close the doors of BMSH Obstetrics Ward, but I feel that had the BMSH tried these social media and community outreach methods before this announcement - assuming the administration had not already made up it’s mind on consolidation beforehand - I am positive the current situation would be much different. If it was as simple an issue as an unawareness or unease around these forms of digital media, I believe several people in the community would have helped the administration navigate that particular space. I understand that, even now, many of us are using our contacts to help the BMSH find applicants. To say that none are qualified after this point, would be very difficult to accept. We all recognize the need to increase the availability of affordable housing and raise salaries to accommodate for life in the Bow Valley, but we also understand the tremendous fortune we have to live and work in the Canadian Rockies. I do not believe that these accommodation and salary issues will go unresolved, and there are many people who are willing to work where they find enjoyment in doing so, in an inspirational environment like Banff National Park, and given today’s economy, for a moderate scale of pay.

In regards to the statements made surrounding the need to accommodate the large number of ski, snowboard, and outdoor-related injuries as part of the decision to close the baby ward at Banff Mineral Springs Hospital; I think it’s fairly obvious that a majority of the residents of Banff, Canmore and surrounding Bow Valley communities participate in these activities. In fact, we look forward to these times of year, are employed through these industries and also are keen to welcome any new explorers of these sports. We understand that injuries will occur, even to us. However, I feel almost no human being would argue that treatment of the non-life threatening or non-serious injuries should take precedence over one of life’s most fundamental activities, that of childbirth. Especially for Bow Valley residents. It would seem that this policy should be seriously re-examined by all regional health authorities.

Please also consider the health of the mothers-to-be during the recent and all future protests, sit-ins and media addressing. This is precious time that mothers-to-be should not need to devote to campaigning against like a hospital ward closure. Though I suspect most of the parents are generally healthy, and all are carefully monitoring the health of the developing children, the winter weather, hazardous travel, and most certainly additional stress, are all unwelcome factors in their potentially fragile stage of parenthood. While they choose to stand up for their beliefs and an injustice, they do so as a community, and it is up to you to provide them with the most accurate and honest information you have available. To not do so, is almost putting them in as much jeopardy as making them travel to another city for the birth itself.

As an Alberta-born media producer, outdoor enthusiast, non-apologetic lover of Banff, and supporter of the province’s economic and ecological growth and stability, it deeply saddens me to think that these kinds of health decisions are seemingly made so lightly. Though I migrated to Vancouver only recently, my heart and soul remains in Banff, and Alberta. It is my hope to return to Banff, or even Calgary or Edmonton at some point, and be reassured that the healthcare of my friends, family and associates (most of who reside in Alberta) have been given the best possible consideration. At the very least, whether you’re addressing my immediate concern for my close friends, or the concerns of other families and friends, each involved managerial and governing participant should very seriously re-evaluate the quality of life and safety of parents-to-be and children under these current Obstetrics Ward closures in Alberta.

You may contact me with any questions or concerns.

A sincere thanks for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Chad Kerychuk