PRINCE.EDWARD.ISLAND (CBC) - A couple from Central Newfoundland said Tuesday they were shuffled between hospitals more than 90 kilometres apart when the woman went into labour June 30, all because of Central Health's obstetrics sharing plan.

The authority responsible for health care in Central Newfoundland announced at the beginning of the summer that the obstetrician-gynecologist specialists would rotate between the region's two hospitals, in Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor, as there was no longer enough staff to keep departments in both hospitals running.

When Stephanie Hodder went into labour the evening of June 30, she went to the hospital in Grand Falls-Windsor, but was transferred to Gander, 90 kilometres down the Trans-Canada Highway, because the ward in Grand Falls was not open.

After spending the night in the Gander hospital, the obstetrician-gynecologist sent Hodder back to Grand Falls-Windsor.

Greg Hodder, Stephanie's husband, told CBC News the service-sharing situation is not working.

"To me, that kind of signals that's a degradation of our own service, our own medical services in our communities," Hodder said of the ordeal. "And when people from areas that are quite a bit aways from either Grand Falls or Gander have to travel two and three hours to get to a hospital to have labour, I think this is when we have to realize that there could be serious complications for these mothers when they go into labour."

Hodder said he heard of two other couples who went through similar circumstances around the end of June.

"There's a very big gap in this new arrangement they have between the hospitals," Hodder said. "I don't think it's as much the inability of the doctors and nurses to serve the patients, because the care they're giving is outstanding, I think the transition phase between the two hospitals wasn't very well looked at."

Stephanie Hodder safely delivered a baby girl on July 1 in Grand Falls-Windsor.

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