As McLaren St. Luke’s continues to address the compounding challenges of COVID-19, the national staffing shortage and exclusion from the Paramount insurance product, the hospital has made the difficult decision to discontinue providing obstetrics and birthing services. The hospital will close its obstetrics physician offices in Holland and Perrysburg and end labor and deliveries at McLaren St. Luke’s, between Aug. 31-Sept. 30, 2022.
“The decision to discontinue delivering babies at our hospital has been particularly difficult and emotional,” said Jennifer Montgomery, McLaren St. Luke’s President and CEO. “We made every effort to avoid eliminating the program, but the loss of a large managed care health plan and other economic conditions have significantly reduced the number of patients who choose McLaren St. Luke’s for birthing services.”
Though birth rates in Lucas County have been slowly trending downward for several years, McLaren St. Luke’s has experienced a 20% precipitous drop in births so far this year, and a 40% decline in March. Since becoming out of network with Paramount on January 1, overall patient visits have decreased by 20% - 30%.
“It is simply not financially feasible to continue operating our birthing unit with such steeply declining volume. Fortunately, there are many options for expectant women to deliver locally. A number of local hospitals have larger obstetrics programs, NICU and Special Care nurseries, as well as pediatrics services that make them the choice of many families in the area,” added Montgomery.
Since 2021, the hospital has been incrementally restructuring several departments, including re-assigning employees to areas with higher volume, eliminating unfilled positions and aligning workforce levels with current volume levels.
“McLaren St. Luke’s remains a hospital of choice for adults and seniors in northwest Ohio,” said Stephen Bazeley, MD, chief medical officer, at McLaren St. Luke’s. “They know and trust us for high-quality services like cardiovascular care and open-heart surgery, spine and neurological care, robotic surgery and orthopedic services. We are committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality care and continuing to be a partner to the communities we serve.”