WILKES-BARRE — The union representing nurses at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital has launched a petition drive following news that the facility’s for-profit owner plans to end inpatient labor and delivery services.
“Closing the OB department clearly demonstrates that they do not care about the people in our community who access our services. It is a harsh reminder that they are putting profits over patients,” said Michele Bonk, R.N., a longtime labor and delivery nurse who serves as a union steward.
The hospital’s owner, Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, earlier this week announced the termination of obstetrics services — and the potential layoffs of more than 30 registered nurses, effective July 31 — shuttering the oldest and only labor and delivery department in the city.
A petition to management for the public to sign is available and supporters are urged to share the petition on social media.
Bonk said the move “truly is a loss for everyone in the Wyoming Valley, but not for CHS executives in Tennessee.”
Company’s response
A news release from CHS stated that General Hospital has experienced a 50% decrease in deliveries over the past seven years, with even fewer deliveries expected in 2023.
“This has been a very difficult decision,” said Wilkes-Barre General Hospital CEO Simon Ratliff. “However, fewer births are occurring at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and within the local market and this coincides with the increasing average age of our local population.”
In a further statement, the company said:
“Our hospital team understands patients may have questions, and we are working with their obstetricians to support their patients’ non-emergent deliveries to another hospital of their choice. Expectant patients will continue to have local options for receiving childbirth services in Luzerne County at Geisinger Wyoming Valley and Leigh Valley Hazelton. Additional area hospitals that offer childbirth services include, Moses Taylor Hospital and Geisinger Community Medical Center.
“The human resources department will work with impacted employees, such as those who staff the OB unit and clinics, to continue their employment by identifying opportunities for reassignment at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital as well as other clinics and affiliated entities.”
Patients experiencing an obstetrics-related medical emergency will still be treated at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, officials said, adding that gynecological services and surgeries will continue to be provided at the hospital.
All nurses and personnel who staff the obstetrics unit and clinics will be given the opportunity to apply to other open positions at Commonwealth Health.
‘What are they going to do?’
Staff and union officials weren’t satisfied with those answers.
“We still have expectant parents coming for tours,” said Tessa Mitchell, R.N. “What are they going to do? Patients tell us that Geisinger is too busy, so they come to us. Now there won’t be that option.”
Lori Schmidt, R.N., president of the Wyoming Valley Nurses Association, said, “My heart is breaking. Our hospital is supposed to be a community hospital, but Community Health Systems doesn’t think our community is profitable enough to help bring our babies into this world. It’s unclear if other facilities can absorb the families who have relied on us for generations. They are literally telling moms and dads to hit the road to the next hospital. What’s next?”
The Wyoming Valley Nurses Association is an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), which represents 10,000 nurses and front line healthcare professionals across the commonwealth and was founded on the belief that patients receive the best care when clinical-care staff has a strong voice to advocate for both their patients and themselves.
Temple University Hospital nurse and PASNAP President Maureen May, R.N., a longtime Maternal Health R.N. herself, said, “We are disappointed and gravely concerned by this ill-advised decision. It’s a decision that’s clearly motivated by financial considerations and not by what’s best for patient care in the Wyoming Valley and the front line caregivers there.”