It keeps happening. News 5 is learning more about the decision from University Hospitals to discontinue labor and delivery services at Samaritan Medical Center in Ashland.
Staff learned the news Wednesday. The unit has been open for more than 111 years; it’s the only labor and delivery facility in Ashland County. Over the past year and a half, the hospital has been trying to retain and recruit the specialty healthcare workers needed to maintain the unit without much success. Thursday afternoon, UH leaders spoke with News 5 Anchor Courtney Gousman about their plan for patients.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
The labor and delivery unit has been operating at UH Samaritan Medical Center since the hospital opened its doors in 1912. And it’s the third UH labor and delivery unit to shut down in the past year in our area. The hospital’s chief operating officer, Sylvia Radziszewski, told us the news of those services being discontinued has been hard to digest.
“We’ve got nurses here who were born here, whose parents were born here,” she said. “Incredible emotion behind this closure. It really is sad this is the landscape for our health care today.”
Radziszewski said there’s been a decline in births in the area due to an aging population. Pre-pandemic, about 300 babies were born at Samaritan each year. This year they’re expecting to deliver about 180 babies. Radziszewski said one of the biggest reasons for the closure is the shortages they’re seeing when it comes to staffing specialty providers.
“In order to do safe deliveries for moms, you need to have 24/7 obstetrician coverage in your hospital. You have to have pediatrics onboard for 24/7 coverage as well, and anesthesia for those emergency c-sections,” she said. “Unfortunately, in a rural setting, we’re experiencing that provider shortage in being able to provide those services safely for our moms.”
Pre- and post-natal care options will continue at UH Samaritan. To make up for the loss of its labor and delivery services, UH is partnering with Ohio Health in Mansfield to deliver its patient’s babies. That Level II Trauma hospital is about 15 miles, roughly a half-hour’s drive, from UH Samaritan.
“Within the UH system, our closest facility, which is affiliated with UH, is Southwest, which is about 50 minutes north of the community. Taking a look at our patient population and where they were at, we went into this conversation with Ohio Health and collaborated with them, and I think it’s a huge win for our community,” Radziszewski said. She said Ohio Health will also take some of UH Samaritan’s healthcare workers. Its closing labor and delivery unit has about 19 nurses who are now looking for a place in Mansfield, Southwest General, or somewhere else in the UH system.
“We’ve been very intentional and strategic in affording nurses that we have here soft landings,” Radziszewski said. Since Samaritan is currently the only labor and delivery unit in Ashland County (Ohio Health is in neighboring Richland County), officials with the county health department told News 5 this has been an area of worry. The department released the following statement:
“We understand this was a difficult decision for University Hospitals to make, but feel they did their due diligence to identify the best solution to continue offering obstetric (OB) care in our community,” said Jill Hartson, the Preparedness and Prevention Director/Public Information Officer at Ashland County Health Department. “One of our concerns was access to care because that has been identified in our last two Community Health Assessments as an ongoing issue in Ashland County. However, University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center will be able to provide local OB care to Ashland County residents both before and after the baby’s birth. Ashland County residents will only need to leave town to deliver their baby at nearby OhioHealth Mansfield. We’ve been assured by University Hospitals that they are working with the local midwives and Amish community to address their concerns and make sure their needs are met.”
“This cuts at my core as a woman and a mom to make this type of decision,” said Radziszewski. “This is not a financial decision by any means. It’s a matter of providing safe delivery for our moms and babies.”
