The Association of Allied Health Professionals says its members are working on possible short-term solutions to fill the gap, and provide 24/7 neonatal medical transportation in the province.

The union held a meeting yesterday to discuss challenges in sustaining 24/7 neonatal coverage.

It happened to come following a recent case involving a critically-ill newborn who had to wait 31 hours to be transported to the Janeway from Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Reya Way’s father, Robert, told their story on VOCM Open Line this week.

President of the AAHP of Newfoundland and Labrador, Gord Piercey, says neonatal teams are made up of highly-specialized professionals, including respiratory therapists, and there are real challenges in recruiting more.

He says recruiting respiratory therapists for neonatal care – that is babies under the age of 30 days – is extremely difficult “and getting more difficult as time moves on.”

He says their respiratory therapy group is “working diligently” to try to figure out how they can meet that need.