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Incorrect birth information about Flin Flon hospital circulates

Despite what you may have read on the Internet, there have not been eight recent births at Flin Flon General Hospital.
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The new entrance to the Flin Flon emergency department. - FILE PHOTO

Despite what you may have read on the Internet, there have not been eight recent births at Flin Flon General Hospital.

An article published by northern Saskatchewan-based MBC News last month stated statistics released by the Saskatchewan provincial government showed eight babies had been born at the hospital in 2019. The story came in the wake of the suspension of obstetric services at the hospital in November.

However, Northern Health Region (NHR) officials have confirmed to The Reminder that the information in the MBC article is not correct..

“We have had no births at Flin Flon General Hospital since the suspension in November 2018,” read a statement from an NHR spokesperson.

An official with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health clarified that the statistics do not cover 2019, but in fact cover the 2018-19 fiscal year, meaning there had been eight births involving Saskatchewan patients at Flin Flon General Hospital between April 2018 and the suspension of obstetric service in November 2018.

“These eight births represent Saskatchewan patients only and are not reflective of the total number of births for the facility,” read a statement to The Reminder by a provincial spokesperson.

At a community meeting between NHR officials and members of the pro-obstetric care group We Want Birth on Feb. 26, NHR CEO Helga Bryant said one woman had presented to Flin Flon General Hospital in labour between the suspension date and late February, with five ambulance transfers between Flin Flon and The Pas, nine births in The Pas involving mothers from Flin Flon, and between 40 and 55 pregnant women being supervised by the NHR’s Flin Flon prenatal care clinic over the same timeframe.

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