NE session to explore
maternity ‘crisis’

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

While the maternity-care crisis has been growing for years, it reached an even more alarming state when Jeanes Hospital phased out its maternity unit in May, making it the 11th Philadelphia-area hospital obstetrics division to close in 10 years.
Across the state, 33 hospitals have closed their maternity units, a trend largely influenced by the need to cut costs amid an increasingly challenging health-care climate.
Today, Northeast Philadelphia moms-to-be are left without a local hospital to deliver their babies.
The Maternity Care Coalition and the community board of the city’s Public Health Center No. 10, at 2230 Cottman Ave., are inviting childbearing families, nurses, doctors and legislators to a "Northeast Philadelphia Town Hall Meeting" to discuss issues related to the maternity-care crisis.
The session will be held 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 3101 Tyson Ave.
"We really want to focus on how these statewide issues impact the citizens and neighbors of one community and how we need to work together to figure it out. We’re looking to begin a real public dialogue," said Letty Thall, public policy director for the Maternity Care Coalition.
The coalition is a non-profit organization in the city that seeks to improve maternal and child health and well-being. Its programs include outreach efforts in low-income neighborhoods and advocacy at the local, state and national levels.
The MOMobile is the organization’s signature program, with vans that visit neighborhoods to deliver support and resources to pregnant women, new parents, infants and their families in eight areas of Southeastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia and sections of Montgomery and Delaware counties. Some of those services include providing links to prenatal care, pediatric and women’s health care, behavioral-health services, nutrition programs, education and other community resources.
On Sept. 21, the state House of Representatives’ Health and Human Sevices Committee held a public hearing to get input from those on the front lines of maternity care.
"All the hospitals talked about their needs. We were the one community group saying that needs went beyond the hospitals," Thall said.
Another part of the problem is prenatal care.
According to Thall, the Maternity Care Coalition studied the issue by neighborhood, dividing this region into the Lower Northeast and the Upper Northeast. The waiting time for an initial appointment can range from seven to 17 days in the Upper Northeast and seven to 14 days in the Lower Northeast. That can lead to women being told to try another health center.
"We don’t know how many get lost or don’t make that phone call," Thall said.
Last week, state Rep. Kathy Manderino (D-194th dist.) introduced House Bill 1514, which would provide $15 million in state funds — and be matched by $18 million in federal funds — for medical assistance to hospitals that serve a large number of low-income and uninsured obstetrical patients.
On their part, hospitals that receive funding would not be permitted to close units in the same fiscal year that the money is appropriated.
That clause doesn’t provide much comfort to maternity-care advocates, however.
Temple University Health Systems, which had received similar funds, closed the Jeanes Hospital maternity unit on May 31. If that clause had been in effect when the Temple system received the funds, Thall contended, it merely would have delayed — and not prevented — the decision to phase out the Jeanes unit.
At the time changes were announced for the Fox Chase hospital, Temple officials said the unit’s closure and accompanying staff cuts were dictated by budgetary constraints, reductions in reimbursements for patient care, and rising costs related to medical malpractice protection.
Since the demise of the Jeanes Hospital unit, Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center, located in Montgomery County, has experienced an increase in obstetrics volume. More than 2,000 babies were delivered at Holy Redeemer last year, but the hospital is expecting more than 3,000 deliveries this year, said hospital spokeswoman Candice Ryan.
Five years ago, Holy Redeemer’s maternity center was expanded to accommodate 2,500 deliveries. After the Jeanes announcement, the hospital invested in additional staffing, equipment and capital, turned to heavier marketing of its maternity services, and is now considering further, significant renovations. ••
A copy of the Maternity Care Coalition report, Childbirth at a Crossroads, can be found at http://www.momobile.org/ChildbirthataCrossroads.html
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com