Lourdes maternity unit in Willingboro closing
Lourdes Health System yesterday announced that it would close the maternity unit at its Willingboro hospital and consolidate its obstetric services at Lourdes Medical Center in Camden.
Lourdes Health System yesterday announced that it would close the maternity unit at its Willingboro hospital and consolidate its obstetric services at Lourdes Medical Center in Camden.
Alexander Hatala, president and chief executive officer of the system, attributed the closure primarily to decreasing numbers of maternity patients and low reimbursements from insurers that have led to "increasingly heavy financial losses."
The same factors have been cited by Southeastern Pennsylvania hospitals that have stopped delivering babies. Since 1997, 19 maternity units have closed in Philadelphia and the four suburban counties, leaving 23 area hospitals that offer the services.
To minimize disruption for current patients, Lourdes will take several months to discontinue obstetric services at Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County, said spokeswoman Wendy Murano. After the shutdown, the hospital will continue to deliver babies on an emergency basis.
This year, the Willingboro facility is projected to have about 875 births, while the Camden center will have about 1,400, Murano said. In addition to obstetrics, the Camden facility has a neonatal intensive-care unit and high-risk prenatal services.
Lourdes is not sure how many additional deliveries the Camden hospital will handle because "we're not sure how many women will come" from Burlington County, Murano said.
Many women may switch to Virtua Health's hospital in Mount Holly. Virtua's facility is eight miles from Lourdes' in Willingboro, while Lourdes in Camden is about twice as far away.
In any case, the Camden facility should have no problem accommodating more patients.
"We have a 32-bed maternity unit and a daily census of 10 or 11 women," Murano said. "We believe we have the capacity."
Obstetricians on staff in Willingboro will be "encouraged" to join the Camden staff, and affected employees will be considered for positions within Lourdes Health System or offered a severance package and job counseling, officials said.