Mercy Suburban Hospital in East Norriton says it'll stop delivering babies by next June. Some 30 workers will be reassigned or laid off by then, the hospital said in a statement, adding that Mercy, owned by nonprofit operator Catholic Health Care East of Newtown Square, is the seventh PA hospital to shut its obstetrics unit since 2004.
OB/GYN doctors who use the hospital have to decide whether to stay as gynecologists or move their practices to one of seven nearby hospitals that still deliver, spokesman Brian Cole told me. "They're still processing" the news, he said.
The "difficult decision" to shut obstetrics "reflects the unfortunate market environment" for baby services in Pennsylvania, due to fewer births, higher costs and lower insurance reimbursement, Mercy said in the statement. Cole said the hospital made the announcement after telling neighboring hospitals in meetings today.
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
There have been numerous labor floors that have closed over the past few years. This has nothing to do with Obamacare.— fozziebear- Comment removed.
- Area hospitals have been closing obstetrics for the past 5-6 years mostly because of rising malpractice insurance rates. Nothing to do with Obama or illegals, but don't let the facts get in the way of a predetermined agenda.— adman
- How ironic that a Catholic organization, governed by a church that spends so much of its time and resources trying to get the State to force women to complete unintended pregnancies, turns around and abandons those women and their babies at the time they need them most.— DahnTahn
- Dahn, do Catholics have a special obligation to operate their hospitals at a loss? Money's gotta come from somewhere. Unless the staff's gonna work for free like the old nuns. Or the anti-abortion zealots— distefj
- Distefj: You're right that the money has to come from somewhere. Most hospitals lose money on maternity but continue to operate them because the communities they serve need them. They subsidize those units from others in the hospital that make money. If every general hospital in our area closed every money-losing service, there would be no mother/baby, pediatric or psychiatric units in those hospitals. I do think a Catholic hospital has a special obligation to find a way to keep those units open.— DahnTahn
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