Jenna Gorko`s petition to save the Family Medicine Maternity Clinic has received the support of several thousand since being launched on Friday. (CHAT News photo).

By Alex McCuaig

Thousands have signed already

Hat mother launches petition to save maternity clinic

Oct 20, 2020 | 4:40 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A city woman upset with the decision to close the city maternity clinic has launched an online petition which has already received the support of thousands.

The city’s Family Medicine Maternity Clinic (FMMC) will stop accepting new patients by the end of this month due to a lack of funding for the service which has been offered in the city for the last 17 years. It will close at the end of April.

Jenna Gorko says she understands the petition won’t be binding on elected officials but a message needs to be sent to Alberta’s premier, health minister and two local MLAs to not take a step backwards when it comes to the health of mother’s and their children in the city.

The idea that pregnant women can simply get the same services from their family doctor – if they have one – is simply ridiculous, said Gorko.

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“The care that I received at the family maternity clinic was much more in-depth and they were able to provide me with way more information to my questions than my family doctor,” said Gorko. “Whenever I was getting transferred to the family maternity clinic, I was excited because I knew I was going to get more thorough checkups and help with any questions I had.”

Gorko added that while she doesn’t anticipate using the clinic again, she believes it’s important to fight to maintain the service so her daughter can use it when she is ready.

“One day I hope to be a grandmother and I would hope that she would have the same accessible care that I received during my pregnancy,” said Gorko.

The petition is on change.org.