The number of baby deliveries continues to slide at Leamington District Memorial Hospital, which last year contemplated shutting its obstetrics unit because half the pregnant women in its catchment area were opting for Windsor or Chatham.
The announced closure was halted thanks to a public outcry and an expert panel called by the Erie St. Clair LHIN, which devised a plan it hoped would bring the numbers up and provide pre-natal care at a new “navigation centre.” On Tuesday, the LHIN board approved moving the concept forward, but in the meantime, volumes have dropped dramatically.
A year ago, the hospital was doing 300 deliveries a year, about half what it needed to break even financially. It was funded $700,000 for an obstetrics unit that cost $1.4 million to run.
This fiscal year, the hospital delivered 189 babies between April and November, compared to 256 for the same time period last year. “So down 67 births,” said hospital spokesman Bill Baker.
Hospital CEO Terry Shields said the decrease, a 26 per cent drop, is a short-term issue that should be rectified with the recruitment of a new obstetrician. Currently, the hospital has only one. Shields said a new OB/GYN from Ireland is expected to start in mid-January.
Gary Switzer, the CEO of the LHIN that co-ordinates health care in the region, blamed the drop on the fact the hospital was down to one OB/GYN and all the attention the potential obstetrics closure received in the last year.
“I know if I was a family expecting and there was uncertainty that I could deliver in my hometown, it’s obvious people would look elsewhere.”
Leamington District Memorial Hospital is pictured int his September 2015 file photo.
He said it’s definitely possible the new plan will bring volumes up to a sustainable level.
“I believe it is, or else we wouldn’t be doing this,” he said. The catchment area — the southeast corner of the county — has about 650 newborns a year.
LDMH’s Shields said it was not appropriate at this time for him to comment on the navigation centre.
“We are first and foremost concerned with securing the proper funding that will allow LDMH to sustain operations,” he said.
According to the LHIN motion passed Tuesday, the hospital and the non-profit picked to run the navigation centre, the Windsor Essex Community Health Centre, are supposed to establish a formal partnership to provide birthing services in Leamington. They’re asked to present an operational plan on how they’ll do it at the LHIN’s January meeting.
The navigation centre will be located in 5,500 square feet of rented space on Princess Road, with nine staff including nurse practitioners, a nurse, a dietician and a social worker. They’ll provide care to pregnant women who don’t have a family doctor or obstetrician, targeting people from vulnerable populations such as Mennonites and migrant workers.
Deliveries will continue at the hospital which will be responsible for running the obstetrics unit with two obstetricians, and availability for midwives, and ensuring their costs are in line with their volumes, according to Switzer.
He said he has a “ball park” idea what all this will cost and the LHIN is in talks with Health Ministry to receive funding, but he’s waiting for the hospital and WECHC to present their numbers in January, when the LHIN should also have a better idea when the transformation will happen.
“I want them to come back to present to our board: here’s our strategy, here’s the cost, here’s the ramp-up,” Switzer said.
