Editor:
I fear I am saying goodbye to the hope of raising my family in a family-friendly community called Banff, Alberta, Canada.
The decision to pull obstetrics services out of Banff Mineral Springs Hospital and replace with plastic and vascular surgeries may seem harmless, even practical from a business efficiency standpoint, but it will make having children harder on Banff families (and families in Lake Louise and other close mountain towns across the B.C. border). It will also affect the ages and stages of families – and doctors and nurses – attracted to move into our community.
What do many young couples with children (or the hope of children) look for when searching for a home? How about good access to health care (choice of family physicians), early childhood/parenting programs, strong schools, safe, friendly neighborhoods, and vibrant family activities, for starters.
If we need more convincing that forcing obstetrics out to make room for plastic and vascular surgery is bad for the future of local families of Banff, then let’s look at the research. Below is a summary of an article titled, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone: the role of maternity care in community sustainability.” This was co-authored by Dr. Michael C. Klein and published in 2011 in the Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine:
Maternity care affects current and future potential for economic development (e.g. recruitment/retention of young families to the town – we already struggle with that and this is sure to compound the issue.)
Maternity care affects other maternal and health care services and continuity of care. When maternity left, some rural hospitals in B.C. also lost their operating rooms and other surgical and anesthetic services.
Maternity care affects retention and recruitment of physicians and other health care providers. Some doctors will leave the area and “a different type of physician would then arrive, one whose motivations were different and less committed to the community.”
Maternity care affects the social fabric and sense of place within a community. As women travel out of town for care of their babies and children their connections with other local mothers and with local services diminishes.
(i.e. Becoming pregnant and having children puts women and their spouses in connection with others in the community who are at similar stages of life and family. If no more babies start their lives in Banff and medical care for families continues to gravitate to Canmore, who will be left to fill Banff’s elementary school classrooms? Already many Banff families bus their children to Canmore schools.) Both communities deserve strong families.
I am not one to speak out publically, get involved in protests, or even write letters like this. Indeed, this is a first for me, but the issue of Banff Mineral Springs Hospital unnecessarily closing its doors to expectant mothers, young children and families reflects skewed morals and disregard for Covenant Health’s mission statement, which is:
“We are called to continue the healing ministry of Jesus by serving with compassion, upholding the sacredness of life in all stages, and caring for the whole person – body, mind and soul.”
Our society today is filled with reasons why couples should not have children, or choose to have fewer children simply because they cannot afford a large family. I am convinced this decision will decrease the numbers of would-be parents who choose to stay living in Banff, or choose to move here in the future. It may even discourage some established families from having more children because the risks, uncertainties, and costs (both monetary and social) of childbirth and child rearing while living in this town have just gone up.
Before allowing obstetrics to be replaced by plastic and vascular surgery, please consider the bigger picture of sustaining families in Banff. Let us strategize together as citizens and town council to keep obstetrics open and, more importantly, to improve the family-friendly atmosphere and services in our town. Is this not what Canmore has done and is doing quite successfully?
In fact, other small towns in Alberta have been able to attract nurses with families who then settle down and stay long-term, allowing their obstetrics units to stay open without controversy while delivering fewer babies than Banff.
We may be a tourist town, but we are not just a tourist town. Banff did not become historic Banff without the vision and the blood, sweat and tears of the families who built our legacy. Let us not shun the new and existing families who have potential to carry on that legacy, few as they may be at present.
If you agree with any part of this message and hope for the future of families in Banff, please speak up. Please let Covenant Health, Alberta Health Services, Mayor Sorensen and town council, Cindy Mulherin, executive director of Banff’s hospital, and other community members know how you feel.
There is a community planning meeting Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. at the Wild Flour. There will also be a community rally on Jan. 2 at 5 p.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Hall. Dr. Michael Klein will be there to share more of his knowledge with us.
Please get involved in the fight to save Banff’s maternity ward. Your actions, big or small, public or private, will demonstrate how much we value our local families.
Laura Mooney,
Banff
