Mercy Health-St. Joseph Warren (Ohio) Hospital will end labor and delivery services by early December and consolidate births to Mercy Health-St. Elizabeth Boardman (Ohio) Hospital.
The hospitals are part of Cincinnati-based Mercy Health. The Warren hospital will convert its labor and delivery space to a 25-bed inpatient unit to expand capacity, according to an Oct. 28 news release shared with Becker’s.
The decision comes after an evaluation of long-term healthcare needs in the area and ongoing OB-GYN physician workforce challenges.
St. Elizabeth Boardman delivers approximately 3,400 babies annually and has maternal-fetal medicine specialists and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit partnership with Akron (Ohio) Children’s Hospital. Mercy Health is also expanding its labor and delivery capacity with an additional 20 maternity beds to support another 1,000 mothers annually, the release said.
Prenatal and postpartum care will continue to be delivered to patients through their established providers, with only deliveries moving to St. Elizabeth Boardman. St. Joseph Warren labor and delivery staff will also have opportunities to transition to roles at St. Elizabeth Boardman or at another Mercy Health location.
Mercy Health will also add Centering Pregnancy, Resource Mothers and Fatherhood Support programs at its Tod Avenue location in Warren.
“Having a Level III NICU and maternal-fetal medicine services in the same hospital means mothers and babies have immediate access to a higher level of specialized care if it becomes necessary,” James Kravec, MD, Acute Care CMO of Mercy Health, Ohio, said in the release. “For families facing high-risk pregnancies or unexpected complications, that level of expertise and coordination can make a meaningful difference. By integrating deliveries at one location, we are expanding access to resources that may not be needed in every birth but are critical when they are.”
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