After consolidating maternity services in the Calgary zone amid COVID-19, Alberta Health Services says things are set to return to normal.

On April 21, maternity services at Calgary's South Health Campus as well as High River Hospital were temporarily suspended as part of the Calgary Zone Pandemic Capacity Planning, as a way of ensuring there was adequate space and resources in the region to handle COVID-19.

Maternity services continued to be provided at Foothills Medical Centre, Rockyview General Hospital and Peter Lougheed Centre.

As of June 3, and as long as the Calgary zone maintains a manageable caseload of COVID-19 in the coming weeks, all inpatient labour and delivery, NICU, postpartum and newborn care will be reinstated at South Health Campus and inpatient maternal/newborn services will return at High River Hospital.

AHS says it's in the process of notifying obstetricians, family physicians, midwives and Primary Care Networks who will be tasked with contacting patients.

“Patient safety is our top priority," says Dr. Verna Yiu, President and CEO of Alberta Health Services. "We are extremely grateful to women and families for their patience during the temporary suspension of maternity services in south Calgary and High River. I want to assure families that hospitals remain a safe place for expectant mothers to deliver, and for mothers and newborns to receive care during the pandemic.”

AHS says it's critical for Albertans to continue to do their part to keep each other safe, especially as businesses and services reopen.

On Friday, Premier Jason Kenney announced that restaurants and hairdressers in Calgary and Brooks could officially reopen on May 25 as part of Stage One of the provincial relauch. Some openings were delayed based on the number of COVID-19 cases that remain active in the two cities.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro also announced that they are able to expand non-urgent procedures and offer more day surgeries and surgeries requiring overnight stays, which had been put on hold as part of the province's response to COVID-19.

“Albertans have done a great job of flattening the curve of COVID-19 infections and reducing the risk to the dedicated women and men working in our hospitals. As a result, we can safely resume providing more of the scheduled care Albertans need. I know the deferral of scheduled services has been hard on patients and families, but it was the right thing to do as part of our overall strategy to protect Albertans from the impact of the pandemic,” Shandro says.

Some day surgeries resumed on May 4 and the province says approximately 3,000 have been performed since then. Patients will be contacted directly to reschedule, with those who have been waiting the longest expected to be given priority. 

 

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