HUMBOLDT — After a local doctor received the qualifications to become an anesthetist, the Humboldt District Hospital Foundation bought a pump for the hospital to allow expectant mothers to receive epidurals.
While Dr. Tanner Schatz has received his certification, the $5,500 pump has yet to arrive.
“It’s a very small expense compared to the benefit it's going to offer expectant mothers,” said Lorrie Bunko, the foundation's executive director.
With an epidural, an anesthetist injects a painkiller into a small space located on the lower back around the spinal cord, blocking nerve impulses from the lower half of the body. That usually stops the pain of labour, but the mother should still feel pressure and stretching.
“It's a very effective pain management option. However, it has to be administered by an anesthetist,” Bunko said.
There were other options for pain management available for expectant mothers at the hospital.
The Humboldt District Hospital Foundation has also decided to expand its commitment with a new drug distribution system.
It will now buy an additional main station and auxiliary Pyxis drug station, expanding the buy to three main stations and three auxiliary stations. The commitment is $94,947 per year for five years, after which the Saskatchewan Health Authority will take over.
“We needed to add it just based on our hospital and the size and the way the wings are set up,” Bunko said, adding there would have been a lot of walking with only two main and auxiliary stations.
With the addition, the emergency ward and two wings of the hospital will each have their own stations.
Bunko said the Pyxis system, plus $300,000 for new cardiac equipment that needs to be fulfilled by 2022, means the foundation will have to do a lot of budgeting and planning to meet its commitments.
“We're just going to have to keep communicating to the public the needs that we have, how important it is that we do get the support of our donors – and we can't thank them enough for the support that they do give us,” she said.
The executive director added the hospital also needs extra equipment to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
