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1/25/10
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1 comment
Trustees delay action on OB unit
WEST BRANCH — The obstetrics unit at West Branch Regional Medical Center will survive until at least until July 1, after the WBRMC Board of Trustees moved to table action on the issue until that date.
Dr. Mario Toledo, the lone Obstetrician at WBRMC, said he believed that the decision would allow him to accomplish one goal to keep the department operating - finding a new obstetrician/gynecologist that would bring new clients and more revenue for the unit.
“We’re very optimistic,” Toledo told the Herald.
He told the board that in Cheboygan, the recent decision to cut the OB unit could open up an opportunity to find a new practitioner.
“This is my time here,” he said. “I can just take a trip up to Cheboygan. … There are a lot of people looking for a job.”
Trustee Arnold Engster, however, said that in the long run, not closing the unit might not be the right choice.
“Even if we have another person to deliver these babies, are we going to have a pediatrician to care for them?” Engster asked.
Board Chairman Daniel Stoneback said that if a new physician could not be found by July 1, it would basically make the decision for the board.
“If July 1 rolls around, and we haven’t been able to recruit another Obstetrician, I think the writing’s on the wall,” Stoneback said.
Fewer patients delivering babies at WBRMC was a primary reason the feasibility of the unit’s existence came into question in October 2008.
“Our volumes are declining,” said hospital CEO Douglas Patullo. “Sadly this is an issue that’s facing many boards and hospitals in rural areas.
“We are not immune from our environment.”
Patullo also said the high volume of Medicaid patients in the area have prevented the hospital from receiving enough revenue in the unit, and added that more people will probably be on Medicaid in the near future due to the poor economy and potential reforms to healthcare.
A copy of budget projections on the future of the unit showed the OB unit losing nearly half a million dollars over three years if a new OB is hired July 1. The copy showed the hospital cutting its losses at $240,000 if the service was discontinued in November.
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I am so glad there is finally a slightly positive article regarding the OB department. I believe the information in the previous articles that the hospital provided regarding closing of the unit, and making it sound like they would be closing, is why their patient load is down. When people read articles making it sound like at any time the OB unit could close, they are not going to take a chance on the OB unit being open 9 months from now. They don't want to have to change facilities in the middle of a pregnancy, so they go to other physicians in Tawas or Saginaw. It appeared in the previous two articles hospital officials were trying to get people to go somewhere else with their negative comments and saying they were probably going to shut down. Thank you Dr. Toledo for making this effort to keep the OB department open. We need this OB unit in our area.