CINCINNATI — Several months after shuttering labor and delivery services at its Fairfield hospital, Mercy Health announced on Wednesday its Westside hospital would see the same fate.
Officials with Mercy Health West Hospital announced plans to close its Family Birthing Center on Dec. 20.
In an internal memo to staff, shared with WCPO 9 News, Mercy Health – Cincinnati President Brian Gwyn blamed the move on "market forces."
"We know there have been many changes across our market in the past few months. We remain fully committed to investing in the necessary infrastructure to develop and grow our service lines and programs utilizing a centralized model that allows us to harness the full resources of being one market," he wrote. "This will enhance the quality of care our patients deserve while also providing long-term sustainability to our programs."
Mia Kuebler, a Mercy West NICU nurse, disagrees with Gwyn's assessment of the situation.
"We're even busier now with the (OB ward) closure of Fairfield," she said. "Patients are going to pass three hospitals, probably, to get to a birthing center, which is so unfortunate."
"Mercy Health—West Hospital has proudly served the Greater Cincinnati community with our Obstetrics (OB) Labor and Delivery program for eleven years," a Mercy Health spokesperson said in a statement. "Unfortunately, due to staffing shortages in the foreseeable future, continuing our program is not sustainable nor in the best interests of our patients."
When asked if the move will help Mercy West patients, Kuebler said no.
"Oh no, not at all. I think that's who they're taking this away from, is the patients," she said. "Maybe it's more — I don't even know — money conscious to be at (Mercy) Anderson? I have no idea why they're moving to Anderson."
The services will be moved to its sister hospital, Mercy Health-Anderson Hospital, along Five Mile Road in Sherwood, which is roughly 22 miles from Mercy Health West Hospital. The hospital said Mercy Health-Anderson has the appropriate physician and staff to provide high-level care for expecting mothers.
"We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for all mothers, future mothers, and our newborns to Mercy Health–Anderson Hospital," the Mercy Health spokesperson said.
The increased distance between the two hospitals could make it tough for expecting mothers to receive maternal care, said Rosemary Oglesby-Henry, a maternal care advocate.
"It's a tough business decision that I think on all sides is going to be difficult," Oglesby-Henry, founder of Rosemary's Babies, said. "And for the teen parent population that I serve, while they aren't losing their babies, they are having premature births because they don't have access to care."
WCPO also spoke with a now-former Mercy West nurse, who resigned on Wednesday in response to the announcement. She asked to remain anonymous out of worry she may face retaliation at her other job.
"Some of those patients in more rural Indiana are going to travel an hour to get to the next hospital," she said. "When things go wrong in pregnancy, they go very wrong ... so having access to (women's) health care is extremely important."
Per an internal memo, Obstetrics ward staff at Mercy West will work with Mercy Health's talent acquisition team over the next few months. The team will work to place full and part-time staff in new roles throughout the hospital network — but likely not in labor and delivery services, Kuebler said.
"I think we would be more keen to stay if we were going to be in our specialty," she said. "I have 11, almost 12 years of NICU experience with pretty high training in NICU, but I'm not going to be in a NICU job or a nursery job, per se."
Labor and delivery healthcare issues are not a new concern for Cincinnati, but recently progress has been made. For the first time this year, the rate of newborn deaths in Hamilton County has dropped below the national average, marking the ongoing effort to improve health outcomes locally.
"As we discuss opportunities in order to better health care for all mothers and their babies, we have to consider now what a travesty this is," Oglesby-Henry said. "We don't ever want to see a decline in the care and the healthcare industry"
The death rate is much higher for Black newborns but dropped significantly in 2023, from 13.7 deaths per 1,000 births to 9.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications.
Read more about the report here.
Read the full statement from Mercy Health here:
"Mercy Health—West Hospital has proudly served the Greater Cincinnati community with our Obstetrics (OB) Labor and Delivery program for eleven years. Unfortunately, due to staffing shortages in the foreseeable future, continuing our program is not sustainable nor in the best interests of our patients. Beginning Dec. 20, all Mercy Health-West Hospital OB Labor and Delivery services will be transitioned to our sister hospital, Mercy Health-Anderson Hospital, which has appropriate physician and staff support to provide high-level care for expectant mothers. We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for all mothers, future mothers, and our newborns to Mercy Health–Anderson Hospital."
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