Image: Chilliwack Hospital Foundation / new community maternity clinic at Chilliwack General Hospital will begin accepting female patients from Chilliwack, Hope and Agassiz as early as next week. Dr. Alison Henry (bottom left) serves as the physician co-lead for the community maternity clinic program.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Maternity clinic

New community maternity clinic to open next week in Chilliwack

Jun 3, 2026 | 10:50 AM

CHILLIWACK – The Chilliwack Division of Family Practice says a new community maternity clinic at Chilliwack General Hospital will begin accepting female patients from Chilliwack, Hope and Agassiz as early as next week.

In a statement, the non-profit society representing GPs and nurse practitioners says the clinic is designed to provide pre- and postnatal care for women in Chilliwack, Hope and Agassiz in response to a concerning maternity care crisis in the region.

The Chilliwack Division of Family Practice says the multidisciplinary clinic will strive to protect and sustain local access to health care for pregnant women as the region faces a severe shortage of obstetrical providers.

“We are seeing almost a doubling of the number of patients who are needing care for pregnancy in our community. And with the dwindling maternity care provider numbers, we had to do something; otherwise, maternity care would not be available in Chilliwack,” said Dr. Alison Henry, physician co-lead for the community maternity clinic program.

After a mass exodus of OB-GYNs in Kamloops in late 2025, and subsequent hospital maternity diversions across the Lower Mainland, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of B.C. issued a warning in March of a provincial maternity care crisis.

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In Chilliwack, a similar phenomenon is emerging. Since 2015, the number of family doctors practicing primary care obstetrics in the Chilliwack, Hope and Agassiz areas has plummeted from roughly 22 down to just four as of June 2026. Meanwhile, Chilliwack’s population swelled from 86,000 to more than 112,000 over the same decade, bringing an influx of young families of childbearing age.

“People should have care where they live,” said Dr. Henry, a resident of Chilliwack who has practiced medicine in Chilliwack for 19 years. “The vision is to have a central hub where patients could come for centralized maternity care.”

The maternity clinic will be named Ehó:temáwtxw, which means “a home to wrap someone in care”, and is presently staffed by four family physicians, two registered midwives, and three registered nurses all working collaboratively in a team-based care model. This centralized approach not only streamlines patient care but is also strategically designed to combat physician burnout and recruit the next generation of health-care providers by offering a sustainable work-life balance.

Clinic name. (Image Credit: Chilliwack Hospital Foundation.)

The clinic will be overseen and led by the Chilliwack Obstetrical Group, with significant support from the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice, the Chilliwack Hospital Foundation, Fraser Valley Health Care Foundation, and Fraser Health.

The clinic will begin accepting maternity patients on Monday, June 8.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

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New community maternity clinic to open next week in Chilliwack

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