Prime Healthcare plans to suspend obstetrical services at 3 Illinois hospitals, consolidate care
Prime Healthcare plans to suspend obstetrical care at three of its Illinois hospitals — saying it will centralize the services at two of its other hospitals and invest in maternal health in the community.
Prime is suspending OB services at Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Mercy Medical Center in Aurora and Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago, effective Oct. 1, Prime said in a news release and statement Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Prime plans to “centralize and strengthen” OB services at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago and Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields.
“Concentrating maternity services at established centers like Saint Mary’s ensures the highest levels of quality and patient safety, addressing maternal health disparities,” said Dr. Devyani Chawla, director of the Birthing Center at Saint Mary of Nazareth, in the news release.
Prime said in the news release that it also decided to suspend OB services at the other three hospitals because, “Many years of financial distress, changes in ownership, declining birth rates and volumes have made it impossible to ensure the very best quality of care for the patients served.”
rime said the suspensions could be reversed if demand increases.
About 75 full-time nurses will be affected by the changes, according to a statement from a Prime spokesperson. Each of the nurses will be offered another position within Prime. Prime now has 331 open positions, including 11 open OB roles, according to the statement.
Along with the changes, Prime said it will offer $1 million in grants for maternal health initiatives in its communities, and it will expand its work with providers in its communities to strengthen access to prenatal and postpartum care.
The announcement Tuesday represents the latest in a string of changes Prime has made since buying eight Illinois hospitals last year from Ascension and purchasing a ninth, Olympia Fields, earlier this year. Prime is a for-profit company based in California.
Previously, Prime suspended OB services at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee. Recently, Prime also asked the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board for permission to close the inpatient pediatrics unit at St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet.
Many of Prime’s changes have drawn criticism from nurses unions and lawmakers. Nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth were already planning to go on a one-day strike later this week as they try to reach their first contract with Prime.
The move to consolidate OB units also follows a trend of community hospitals closing those units, amid demographic shifts and as more patients opt to deliver at hospitals with major birthing centers. OB units also are not typically big moneymakers for hospitals.
Increasingly, health systems with multiple hospitals are also consolidating certain medical services at individual hospitals to create “centers of excellence,” rather than offering all services at all of their community hospitals.
Hospital leaders say the idea is to provide higher quality care by concentrating certain specialists and services in one location where they can see more patients in need of those services. Some doctors and patients, however, have expressed concern that such consolidations force patients to drive farther for certain types of care, rather than having all types of care at their local hospital.
David Gross, senior vice president of government relations and communications for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association said in a statement Tuesday that hospitals across the state are facing “serious financial challenges.”
“In Prime Healthcare’s specific circumstance, the health system is responding to demographic realities by preserving and improving critical services through consolidated regional delivery systems, which has proven to achieve higher quality care and enhanced patient safety,” Gross said in the statement.
“With today’s significant healthcare challenges, and the devastating Medicaid cuts on the horizon, we know that difficult decisions will be necessary for many hospitals to remain viable going forward,” Gross said.