With birth rates in the area declining, Upper Allegheny Health System will consolidate maternity services at Olean (N.Y.) General Hospital and close the Bradford Regional Medical Center unit.
The move, rumored in the community for weeks, was announced Friday.
Dennis McCarthy, director of marketing for Upper Allegheny, said BRMC’s labor and delivery (obstetrics) unit will close and consolidate to Olean General by October.
While the consolidation will displace 19 positions in BRMC’s OB/GYN department, he said affected staff will have the opportunity to fill other appropriate positions at either BRMC or OGH. He said staff who transfer to other departments in BRMC will not lose seniority, and Upper Allegheny is “working on a solution if they move to OGH.”
In addition, BRMC’s two current obstetricians, Dr. Donald Hay and Dr. Aris Gredzens, will retire in October, and will be replaced by an Eldred native, Dr. Theresa McClain. McCarthy said McClain has been hired by Universal Primary Care and will see OB/GYN patients on a full-time basis at BRMC’s Women’s Health Services office on Interstate Parkway.
She will manage obstetrics patients and do gynecological surgery in Bradford, while deliveries will occur at OGH.
Timothy J. Finan, president and CEO of Upper Allegheny, said “the consolidation of maternity services to OGH has been precipitated by a series of issues and market forces beyond our control that include a decreasing birth rate and significant difficulty and challenges’ in recruiting obstetricians.
“BRMC services provided for prenatal and postnatal care will not change,” Finan explained. “Neither will gynecological surgical services or ancillary testing; only the site of the actual delivery will change. And if a pregnant woman goes into labor and needs immediate assistance, BRMC’s ER is equipped to provide care.”
Addressing rumors in the community that BRMC may close, Finan said this is absolutely not the case. The rumors come on the heels of layoffs in February as well as over the past nine years at BRMC and OGH.
“Absolutely, the hospital is not closing,” Finan insisted. “The rumors (of a variety of other departments closing, as well) are absolutely not true.”
Finan said he understands the “skittish” sentiments of the community, but noted this is a consolidation of the OB/GYN department between the two hospital campuses.
“The consolidation and closure of OB programs in rural hospitals has been a repeating story across the nation, including Pennsylvania, for more than a decade,” Finan said.
U.S. birth rates have reached record lows resulting in four straight years of birth declines and the fewest number of births in 32 years across the nation, according to government reports.
“In Pennsylvania, 144 hospitals had obstetrics units in 2000 and by 2017 only 96 Pennsylvania hospitals had obstetrics units, a reduction of 33 percent,” Finan noted. “Of these closures, half (25) were in Western Pennsylvania.”
(Please see Saturday’s edition of The Era for an expanded version of this story.)
