Wilkes-Barre General Hospital to End Inpatient Childbirth Services
5/31/2023
Wilkes-Barre General Hospital has begun work to wind down childbirth services effective July 31, 2023. After this date, the hospital will no longer provide planned inpatient labor and delivery services.
Hospital leaders will work with obstetricians to support an orderly transition of their patients’ non-emergent deliveries to another hospital if they are expected to deliver on or after July 31.
Expectant patients will continue to have local options for receiving childbirth services at Moses Taylor Hospital, Geisinger Wyoming Valley and Geisinger Community Medical Center.
Patients who are experiencing a medical emergency – obstetrics-related or otherwise – can be assured that Wilkes-Barre General Hospital’s emergency department has an experienced team trained to provide safe emergency medical care. Gynecological services and surgeries will continue to be provided at the hospital.
“This has been a very difficult decision. However, fewer births are occurring at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and within the local market as the average age of our local population has increased,” said Wilkes-Barre General Hospital CEO, Simon Ratliff.
The hospital has experienced a 50 percent decrease in deliveries and now supports an average of 40 deliveries per month.
“We will continue applying our resources on the clinical services that are increasingly utilized by our community such as orthopedics, cardiology, urology and bariatric surgery,” Ratliff said. “Our recruitment of skilled specialist physicians to join our medical staff and investments for these vital services means more patients have been able to stay in the Wyoming Valley for their care.”
The human resources department will work with impacted employees, such as those who staff the OB unit and clinics, to continue their employment by identifying opportunities for reassignment at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital as well as other clinics and affiliated entities.
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