Another week, another maternity ward diversion for expecting parents at White Rock’s Peace Arch Hospital.
The latest diversion is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22 and continue through Monday, Jan. 26 at 8 a.m.
It’s the fifth such diversion at Peace Arch Hospital since the beginning of December — diversions that Fraser Health are describing as temporary — due to a shortage of obstetrician-gynecologists at Peace Arch and Ridge Meadows hospitals.
The diversions mean people in labour who had planned to give birth at these hospitals will be guided to another maternity site to deliver their baby during the diversion dates.
Maternity diversions at the White Rock hospital include:
• Dec. 7-10, 2025
• Dec. 22-25, 2025
• Dec. 29, 2025 to Jan. 1, 2026
• Jan. 8 to Jan. 12, 2026
• Jan. 22 to Jan. 26, 2026
A website set up regarding the diversions notes that the health authority is “working hard to recruit obstetrician-gynecologists to Peace Arch and Ridge Meadows Hospitals, using national and international recruitment to fill positions as quickly as possible.
“We are pleased to share that we have hired one physician at Peace Arch Hospital who is expected to join the team in Spring 2026.”
Fraser Health did not say on their website whether that one physician hire will help end the temporary diversions.
Peace Arch News has reached out to Fraser Health.