The only Indigenous-led perinatal and midwifery program in Greater Victoria has closed after funding expired at the end of May, prompting criticism from care providers and Indigenous advocates.
South Island Indigenous Midwifery Services (SIIMS) shut its doors on May 30 after Island Health and the B.C. Ministry of Health declined to renew their funding two days prior to their contract renewal.
SIIMS co-founder and midwife Melanie Mason said no consultation took place – neither with them nor with local Nations – before the closure, which came just a few weeks before National Indigenous Peoples Day.
“It was an absolute cutoff of all opportunities,” she said. “That was pretty devastating (and) a little bit gut-wrenching. We don't have any access to interim funding, and no other funding has been put forward by Island Health or the Ministry of Health.”
When Mason and fellow co-founder Nathalie Pambrun reached out to the health authority and the ministry for information about the funding cuts, they said they were not given a rationale behind the decision.
“They've told us equivocally, ‘No, we will not meet with you, we will not talk with you about your program, the Ministry of Health does not meet with primary care providers,’ end point,” she said. “That's not how you deal (with) or be in relationship with people that provide care for perinatal services. (We) felt a little betrayed when we're being told that things are being done in the background and they are not.”
To this day, over a month after the cuts, Mason and Pambrun are still waiting for answers, feeling left in a “blackhole of information.”
Saanich News requested comment from Island Health, but was redirected to the Ministry of Health, which did not respond before deadline.
Based in Saanich and active since March 2023, the organization served an estimated 20,000 Indigenous people across the South Island through clinics at the Foundry Victoria Youth Clinic, the Songhees Wellness Centre, and Camas Lelum Primary Care Clinic.
Supporting up to 60 women annually, the program delivered trauma-informed, culturally safe care to youth, unhoused individuals, parents facing substance use challenges, and birth evacuees from remote communities. It also helped reduce ER visits, improve birth outcomes, and keep families together.
In light of the cuts, Mason said this decision violated the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, which urges the provinces to increase and retain Indigenous health-care providers in their communities.
“I'm just astounded that we’re still at the same place in 2025,” she said. “On Indigenous History Month, we get told that our services, as Indigenous providers, provided to Indigenous people, are getting cut. This seems outrageous to me.
“(I’m in) absolute rage, horror and disgust that they are willing to do that.”
SIIMS, midwives and advocates are now calling on the province to fund four full-time midwifery positions to restore the program. They say the decision to cut funding while continuing to support less comprehensive models raises serious concerns about systemic inequity in health care.
Saanich News reached out to Gezina Baerh, director of clinical services for the Songhees Nation, but did not hear back before deadline.
