Canada needs a national strategy for anesthesia services in rural and remote regions

Rural and remote areas of Canada are at risk of losing surgical and obstetric services because of a shortage of anesthesia care providers. For more than a century, anesthesia, surgical and obstetric services were available in the remote community of Bella Coola, British Columbia. However, since the health authority cut maternity services at the local hospital in 2008, women from this community have had to travel to Williams Lake (a 6-hour drive) and live there for the last month of their pregnancy. Many receive almost no assistance for meals and housing or support for their other children. Similarly, in Nova Scotia, a shortage of anesthesiologists means that elective surgeries have been reduced and pregnant women in some communities have had to travel to Halifax for their deliveries. The good news is that Canada's medical schools and professional organizations have started working together to address the shortages. The Collaborative Advisory Group for General and Family Practice Anesthesia is one such initiative.