LACONIA, NH – The LRGHealthcare Board of Directors has voted to close the hospital’s inpatient labor and delivery services effective May 30, 2018, and is collaborating with Concord Hospital to ensure continuation of delivery services to the local community. LRGHealthcare will continue to provide prenatal, postnatal, women’s health and pediatric care through local LRGHealthcare providers.
“Maternity care and delivering babies is one of the most rewarding things we do as a healthcare organization,” said Kevin W. Donovan, President and CEO of LRGHealthcare, “so this was an extremely difficult decision for everyone. However, to ensure the quality of care for our patients and address financial concerns associated with those services, it was a decision that we felt was right and ultimately inevitable.”
Donovan said that the number of deliveries at Lakes Region General Hospital has declined annually over the past several years, and that the decline is expected to continue into the future. Donovan said the hospital had 346 deliveries in 2015, 318 in 2016 and 283 in 2017, and that the decline in the number of deliveries is expected to continue in 2018.
“This is not a problem only impacting LRGH,” said Donovan. “It is a problem facing many rural hospitals in New Hampshire and nationally. The continued reduction in the number of deliveries not only presents financial challenges to providing access to the latest technology and ensuring quality care, but also presents challenges for recruiting and retaining physicians who require certain volumes to maintain skills and certification in rural areas.”
Donovan said that moving forward the focus will be on providing quality prenatal, postnatal, women’s health and pediatric care in the Lakes Region, and ensuring expecting mothers and infants have continued access to their local providers. Maternity patients will continue to have access to local prenatal care, including physician appointments, and lab and screening services. LRGHealthcare also maintains a number of pediatricians for care of infants after delivery.
The collaboration with Concord Hospital builds on existing healthcare partnerships to ensure quality healthcare services to patients in the Lakes Region, such as Cardiology and Cancer Center Services. The Family Place at Concord Hospital is a Baby-Friendly Designated Birthing Center, an Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care and a Parenting New Hampshire Magazine’s ‘Family Favorite’ award recipient for Favorite Birthing Center-Greater Concord.
“Working closely with LRGHealthcare, Concord Hospital looks forward to welcoming Lakes Region moms to our Family Place birthing unit,” said Robert Steigmeyer, Concord Hospital president and CEO. “Our organizations have a nearly 20-year history of collaborating to provide care for Lakes Region residents, including cardiac care and oncology services. Together, we will address needs and work to assure quality and continuity of care for new mothers and mothers-to-be.”
LRGHealthcare will continue to provide emergency delivery services through its emergency room, and has established plans for emergency deliveries to be managed with emergency room physicians and local obstetricians.