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As number of births drops, officials opt to find new use for New Beginnings space
By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Jun 28, 2008
Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital will close New Beginnings, its 10-year-old maternity ward, Aug. 29.
Hospital officials said Friday the decision is due to the declining number of babies being born at the facility, which averages at least one delivery a day.
The proximity of another Summa Health System facility with obstetrics was also given as a reason. Akron City Hospital is four miles away.
Kathleen A. Rice, president and chief operating officer of Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital, blamed the aging demographics in the region.
''The average age of the population in Cuyahoga Falls is 37 years old. There are just not as many people having babies in this area,'' she said.
This year, there have been 190 babies born through May 31, which Rice said is 6 percent below the number of deliveries in the Akron region in May of last year.
The unit was renovated for $2.8 million in 1992.
The number of births shows a drop the past two years.
The final decision to close the 12-bed unit, New Beginnings Labor and Delivery Unit, was made this week. The Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital Board approved it on Wednesday, and the Summa Health System Board of Directors voted Thursday.
Hospital officials said the possibility had been under review for two years. Summa officials added they are in the process of evaluating all of its facilities and determining the best uses for each hospital in the system to meet the needs of the community.
Rice said Falls General is not the first hospital in the area that has gone through this type of change due to the market. She cited two Cleveland-area institutions — Bedford Hospital a few years ago and Euclid Hospital in the mid-1990s — as having gone through a similar experience.
''With rumors flying that obstetrics might be closing, and a bigger hospital might be built in the area, residents at the hospital started scrambling to find other jobs so they could complete their residency requirements,'' said Dr. Hugh McLaughlin of Falls Family Practice, who said his practice covers 80,000 patients with 35 to 40 babies delivered a month.
''The residents put in their notice to leave for July 1,'' he said. ''One can't leave, he's in his last stage of his residency, so in September we will give him a job in our practice for his last few months.''
He said even though the proposed full-service hospital along state Route 8 in northern Summit County is not a done deal, there are rumors that the Falls hospital might be reduced to an outpatient care facility.
The ob/gyn closure was not cited in anticipation of the new 100-bed facility.
''Sometimes rumors perpetuate reality,'' McLaughlin said. ''If the new facility will be a full-service hospital, it could be the demise of Cuyahoga Falls General, and if it doesn't open, it could mean more business for the hospital. So nobody knows its future.''
A hospital spokesperson would not comment on the residents leaving the Falls facility, but said there is a strong medical-training program at the hospital, and new residents will be on board starting July 1 in a variety of areas.
Rice said she met Friday morning with the 22 employees working in the maternity ward to discuss their future, and will work with them individually. They will be able to apply for other open jobs in Summa or they can receive additional health-care training from Summa to pursue careers in fields other than obstetrics. She said there are 150 nursing positions open within Summa.
The jobs available include positions at other Summa hospitals and affiliations: Akron City, Robinson Memorial, Wadsworth-Rittman and Barberton hospitals, which also provide maternity services.
There is no decision yet on what will be done with the freed-up space, which takes up 20,000 square feet.
McLaughlin said he has many memories at the hospital. He said he has delivered 1,200 babies at the state-of-the-art facility, including LeBron James' girlfriend, Savannah Brinson (her two children were also born there) and Miracle Baby Emily (Moran), who made headlines when the doctor discovered that even though the mother-to-be was bleeding, she was pregnant with twins and one of the babies was still alive.
The young lady, now in her 20s, is a nurse and lives in Chicago.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital will close New Beginnings, its 10-year-old maternity ward, Aug. 29.
Get the full article here.
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