The birthing unit is closing at 7 a.m. Aug. 24 until 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28. During the closure patients will be redirected to Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket.

This is the first time the birthing unit has faced a temporary closure since Dr. Allison Barrett was hired as the lead obstetrician in the spring.

"We always knew with one obstetrician you couldn't ask that person to be on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," said Gary Ryan, SMH president and CEO.

Since the re-opening, 10 locum physicians have been recruited. They are called on to work the birthing unit when Barrett is away.

For the four-day period next week Ryan said none of the doctors on the roster can cover the shifts. If a replacement is found before the closure Ryan said the unit will stay open.

Ryan said Barrett is following provincial guidelines for a unit with one on-call doctor. That is, Barrett is available 60 per cent of the time and locums are used up to 40 per cent of the time, according to Ryan.

If plans work out the way Ryan hopes, the reliance on locums will soon drop.

Before the year is out, Ryan said the hospital hopes to have a second obstetrician on-staff.

"Which would then make it easier to cover all the on-calls," said Ryan. "We currently have been interviewing and are working on one particular candidate that we would like to see here."

With a second doctor, locums would be called on only 20 per cent of the time.

As for where Barrett is next week, Ryan said he is unsure. When she took the position at Stevenson Memorial she had prior commitments from a professorship in New Zealand, where she was working.

Ryan said the hospital was aware of those commitments before Barrett started working locally and agreed she should keep them.