THE AMAZING GRACE
Lara Kirk Underhill and her son, Austin Kirk, stand outside the Riley Park Maternity Clinic, on the site of the former Grace Hospital. Austin was the last baby to be born at Grace Hospital before its closure 25 years ago this week.
Days before a very pregnant Lara Kirk Underhill delivered her first born on Jan. 30, 1995, she wondered if the spicy chili she enjoyed on Super Bowl Sunday would kickstart her long-awaited labour.
It definitely did. And as a resident of Hillhurst-sunnyside, Kirk Underhill was lucky enough to grab the final maternity bed just down the street at the former Salvation Army Grace Hospital 25 years ago this week.
Hours later, a healthy Austin Kirk came into the world at six pounds, nine ounces — the last baby born at the iconic and muchloved Grace before its final closure.
“I remember how professional the staff was, their incredible kindness,” Kirk Underhill said, explaining there were some tense moments during Austin’s birth after doctors discovered the umbilical cord was wrapped around his tiny neck twice.
“They thought they might have to do a C-section, but then they didn’t, and suddenly there he was,” Kirk Underhill said, adding that a talented specialist was on hand to help manage a delivery that suddenly turned high risk.
And the happy outcome was doubly special for the new mom.
“I was so glad I made it to the Grace, because I was born there, too, 25 years earlier,” she said.
“But I knew it was closing and that if Austin had waited another day, I’d have to go to the Foothills.
“It was really special at the Grace, such a small setting, like a family.”
As Kirk Underhill prepared to head home with her new son, hospital staff showered her with all things baby from the hospital, including countless diapers, soothers, bottles and baby clothes.
Staff volunteers also knitted dozens of colourful sweaters, hats and booties in anticipation of the Grace’s final baby.
“They were so sweet, so kind, I couldn’t believe all the nice stuff they gave me. It was such a good experience.”
Closure of the historic hospital came with many mixed feelings in 1995, the result of deep provincial cuts to health care by the Tory government under former premier Ralph Klein, who also shuttered the Holy Cross downtown and imploded the historic Calgary General Hospital.
The Grace, originally opened in 1926 as an extension of the Salvation Army’s work helping unwed mothers, was always known as the city’s iconic yet intimate baby hospital.
Betty Van Wyk, who worked as a photographer taking baby pictures for new parents at the former Grace and other Calgary hospitals, said the Grace nursery was unlike any other in the city, small and peaceful.
“There were maybe only about 20 to 25 babies there at a time, but Foothills was probably three times that size.
“So Grace was always so quiet, so calm, giving such personal care.”
But by the early 1990s, some doctors, under pressure from other hospitals, were no longer admitting maternity patients at the Grace in preparation for expected cost cuts and rumours of possible closure.
A massive fundraiser held in 1994 collected $4 million in an effort to keep the Grace open, but was ultimately called off due to falling numbers of admissions and plans to create new healthcare regions.
At the time, a report by then-tory cabinet minister Lou Hyndman proposed the Grace be stripped of its maternity and surgery functions and folded into a new community health-care centre to replace the Calgary General Hospital.
But the Grace’s strong reputation as a leader in women’s health would not be lost, as the hospital was eventually converted to a women’s health centre.
Today, the Riley Park Maternity Clinic at the same site offers a wide range of maternity care outside of direct delivery.
Dr. Linda Slocombe, who delivered babies at Grace and now works at the Riley Park Maternity Clinic, says the clinic offers prenatal care, birthing classes, breastfeeding supports and mental-health services for new mothers.
Mothers receiving care at Riley Park are sent to Foothills Hospital for labour, but are invited back for postpartum care before they go back to their family doctor.
Slocombe says the system is more streamlined, and offers exceptional care.
“From the mid 1980s until the closure, I delivered many babies at the Grace,” Slocombe said.
“It was a really special place, smaller, more intimate and really focusing on women’s health care.
“But the evolution is that now we’re able to provide total teambased care offering many additional supports.”
In addition to maternity care, the former Grace Hospital site, under the catch-all Riley Park Health Centre, also houses a family care clinic, radiology services and the unique Access 365 after-hours clinic, taking patients with urgent-care issues.
Dr. Ted Jablonski, medical lead at Access 365, says the after-hours clinic fills an important gap in service, open Monday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., and weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Receiving referrals from emergency rooms, Healthlink and other family docs, Access 365 is an excellent option for patients who are not serious enough for emergency, but cannot wait to see a family doctor.
“It’s a service that’s hugely in need,” Jablonski said.
“Instead of sitting at emergency for six to eight hours, you can come down to our clinic, for instance, and we can see you right away.
“Or you may not be able to wait through the night or another 24 hours to see your family doctor, so we can help you, too,” Jablonski added, explaining the clinic addresses a wide range of ailments from infections, flu-like symptoms or strep throat, to soft tissue injuries such as ankle sprains.
“We are not here to refill prescriptions, but we can definitely get you started and on your way before you can see your family doc.”
The Riley Park Health Centre is part of the Foothills Primary Care Network, one of four networks across the city that work in partnership with Alberta Health Services.
The evolution is that now we’re able to provide total team-based care offering many additional supports.