1,002 babies and counting: Boundary Trails Health Centre celebrates milestone in care

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Boundary Trails Health Centre (BTHC) has reached a milestone years in the making: More than 1,000 babies were delivered at the regional hospital in 2024 — a first in the site’s history. The hospital is located in the R.M. of Stanley corridor on Highway 3, between Winkler and Morden.

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“We’ve known this was coming for quite a few years,” said Stephanie Neufeld, Manager of Health Services for surgery, obstetrics, ambulatory care, and cancer care at Boundary Trails. “This is a representation of the good work our team does — a compassionate group of people who work very hard to serve their patients well.”

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The final number, 1,002 births, reflects both a growing regional population and changes in obstetric service delivery across southern Manitoba. “Several smaller hospitals used to offer obstetrics, but many have stopped in recent years,” Neufeld said. “As a result, births are naturally shifting to regional centres like ours.”

Boundary Trails has also expanded its capacity by adding obstetrician-gynaecologists and strengthening partnerships with midwives, allowing more families to stay in the region for care instead of being transferred to Winnipeg. “We support client choice and provider preference — whether they choose a physician or a midwife, our goal is to offer that care closer to home.”

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Neufeld acknowledged that the rise in births has placed additional pressure on staff and resources. “It’s absolutely an increase in workload for both nurses and primary care providers,” she said. “But the teamwork here is exceptional. Everyone pulls together to ensure clients get excellent care and the best possible outcomes.”

Plans for additional support are already in motion. A major expansion underway at Boundary Trails will include enhanced maternity services — specifically, a new Level 2 nursery and the ability to care for earlier gestational age deliveries. “That means we’ll be able to keep more families here, rather than transferring them to Winnipeg,” said Neufeld, who is involved in planning the upgraded nursery. “It opens the door to better support newborns who just need a little more help after birth.”

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Looking ahead, she said the department’s goal remains simple: “To continue offering exceptional care to those needing obstetric services in our region — and to help more families stay closer to home.”

The 1,002 births recorded in 2024 were tallied by calendar year rather than fiscal year, which Neufeld said was a more intuitive approach for public sharing. In previous years, the hospital had hovered in the high-800s to 900s, but 2024 pushed past the threshold for the first time — a point of pride for the team. “It’s good to finally have made it,” she said. “It sparked a lot of positive conversations about celebrating the good work that happens here.”

The start of 2025 has already been busy, she added, suggesting another strong year may be ahead.

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And while the average works out to nearly three babies per day, Neufeld acknowledged that births rarely arrive in steady numbers — a point raised during the interview. “Obstetrics is unpredictable,” she said. “The work is never known in advance… it definitely keeps us on our toes.”

— Pam Fedack is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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