It is strange how our City of Greater
Sudbury, is slowly making me reconsider how great it really
is.
On Friday morning, June 20, my niece was born
prematurely at St. Joseph's Health Centre. The doctor and
nurses were all wonderful. They couldn't have treated my niece
and her mother any better.
This is why I found the news so hard to take
that my niece was going to be sent to Toronto, because Sudbury
decided to close the ICU for neonatal. This decision was put in
effect Wednesday, June 18. So my niece was flown to Toronto.
She weighed one lbs., 8 oz. She had to be separated from her
mother and father, and there was no other solution.
Before this event I had not heard any word of
this closure coming into effect.
It is maddening because, I too am pregnant
and would not want to be separated from my child after birth,
especially a child struggling for life.
What sickens me more is that a baby born a
few days before the closure date was allowed to remain in
Sudbury. This baby weighed just over a pound also.
I know my niece will receive the best care in
Toronto, however her mother cannot make it to Toronto due to
her condition after delivery. The baby's father is missing work
and paying his own expenses to just be with the baby.
What is happening to our city? What was the
purpose of closing such a vital component in hospitals? It
cannot be cost issues, because from what I was told, it costs
over $30,000 to send a baby in such conditions.
Can anyone give us any logic reason why our
city would do this. It almost makes you afraid to have a child
in this city.
Maria Mastroianni
Sudbury
Editor's note: As Northern Life reported in the June 25,
issue the reduction in service comes as a result of the
hospital not being able to recruit qualified neo-natologists,
according to hospital officials.