Ask Key Questions

The community impact of closing obstetrics units

The continuing impact of closing obstetrics units raises many questions. For a complete list of hospital closings from 1997 to the present check out our Obstetrics Access page. 

If an OB unit closes or threatens to close, these are some of the questions that need to be answered:

• What are the transition plans for informing families and redirecting them to new services? 

• Who has been informed about the closing and the transition plans?

• Do the remaining hospitals have the capacity to absorb the births previously covered by the closing ob unit? 

• Where will the families want to receive care?

• What are the profit and loss statements for obstetric care due to low private and commercial insurance reimbursement rates?

• How will this closure impact the remaining hospitals that are also suffering under financial duress?

• Is obstetric care inherently unprofitable - or just not as profitable as other services?

• If obstetric care is unprofitable for all local hospitals, do we as a community support this as a reason for all OB units to close? 

• Who will take responsibility for a thoughtful process that respects families and determines which obstetric services survive?

• What can we do together? 

The problem we’re facing:

Decisions to close ob units have ramifications far beyond a single health system:

• Pregnant women find prenatal and delivery services based on their insurance.

• Not all providers accept all insurance plans, which means that patients will need to change plans or go to different providers. 

Tell your Legislators and the Governor your concerns:

Email the Governor and ask that this issue be addressed in his statewide healthcare plan!

Find out who your Pennsylvania Legislators are and how to contact them using the PA PowerPort web page.