OB Services Discontinued at MMHD

PRESS RELEASE – July 29, 2016

Contact:  Louis Ward, CEO lward@mayersmemorial.com (530)336-5511 Ext 1130

Director of Public Relations - Valerie Lakey vlakey@mayersmemorial.com (530)336-5511 Ext. 1136

After many years of evaluating and efforts to sustain the service, the MMHD Board of Directors have reached a consensus that they will discontinue providing obstetrical services at Mayers Memorial Hospital District. This decision has not been made lightly or hastily. There are many main reasons for this decision, they are as follows:

• Declining numbers of newborn deliveries at MMHD
•  Ability of MMHD to maintain integrity of obstetrical services at the highest level
• Challenges of recruiting OB/GYNs & Family Practice Physicians to rural areas
• Inability to recruit OB trained RNs to the area as the newborn volumes are the lowest in the state of California.

Many of the staff at Mayers has worked diligently to combat the National trend of rural hospital obstetric department closures. Efforts were taken on a multitude of efforts over the past 5 years including but not limited to:

•       Hiring a highly trained/skilled OB Nurse Manager
•        Actively recruiting OB RN’s
•       Partnering with other obstetrical providers in an effort to train highly skilled OB RNs (Enloe Medical Center, UC Davis, and Mercy Medical Center)
•        Continual meetings with the Clinics and Providers in the area to make them aware of the challenges of providing obstetrics in a rural area
•        Closely working with Partnership Health Plan (a major insurer in the area) to try to improve volumes by working with providers and patients.
•        Marketing services through the use of print, social, and television medias in an effort to increase volumes. 

Even with all of the hard work and a shared goal of preserving the service, the national trend of patients seeking out OB/GYNs and an urban setting for delivery has been too strong. For the 3^rd year in a row MMHD has been the lowest birth rate hospital in California.

  

A lack of OB trained staff has made providing OB services a challenge over the recent months.  There are not enough OB trained staff to fully cover the 24/7 on call hours required. Additionally, there are fewer physicians locally that are delivering babies. Despite dedicated efforts to recruit and hire OB nurses, MMHD has been unable to be fully staffed.

At MMHD providing quality services to our patients is our first priority. Patient safety comes first always. 

Mayers OB Department Update

August 2, 2016

It was announced last week that Mayers Memorial Hospital District (MMHD) would be discontinuing their Obstetrics Service. Administration and staff continue to work on the transition and have determined the ending date will be September 15, 2016. Collaboration with Mountain Valleys Health Centers has been an important part of the process, as to inform patients of the timeframe.

Although the official OB Services will be ending, as in the past, MMHD will be equipped with trained staff in the emergency room for emergent deliveries.  “This is something that happens even with an OB department (ER births). We will be providing additional training to all ER staff so that we can be prepared for this situation,” noted MMHD administration. “The primary focus is the safety of patients.”

MMHD was prompted, after several years of working to stabilize the program, to discontinue services primarily because of the inability to recruit OB trained staff. “We don’t have enough OB trained staff to cover a full calendar.” Additionally, the decline in births at MMHD over the past 5 years has presented issues with the ability to stay current with procedures, equipment and experience.”

MMHD is one of 2 Frontier Hospitals in the state that still provide OB services and one of 12 of the 34 Critical access hospitals. Trends towards specialty services (OB/GYN) have been a factor in much of the outmigration of OB patients.

MMHD continues to identify the needs of the community and provide viable services at a quality level.  “Healthcare facilities are important to rural communities; Mayers will continue to maintain viability in order to be here to serve the Inter-Mountain area. “The goal is always to provide safe, quality care to our patients.  We need to be certain that we operate at that high level with staffing, experience, equipment and coverage in each department we staff.”