Strathroy hospital closing obstetrics program, shifting patients

Bye-bye baby.

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Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital is winding down its labor and delivery program and sending patients to nearby hospitals amid declining birth numbers and the departure of its only obstetrician.

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“It’s been a really hard decision for us and there’s a bit of sadness. We know this is a change, but we are very much committed to women’s health moving forward,” president and chief executive Julie McBrien said Friday.

“We need a program that is stable and accessible and of the highest quality that meets the needs of the community.”

Strathroy Middlesex General has seen a steady drop in the number births during the years, McBrien said. It’s expecting to log 60 births at the hospital by the time its budget year ends March 31, its lowest ever total. In the 2020-21 budget year the hospital had 87 births, an increase of five from 2019-20.

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Birthing mothers once destined for Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital will be sent to London Health Sciences Centre’s Victoria campus, a 40-kilometer drive, or to the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, a 51-kilometer trek. Both area hospitals offer a higher level of care, including a pediatrics and neonatal intensive care if required, Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital said in a statement Friday.

The Strathroy department will remain open when trained staff are available as the transition plan is finalized.

“The specific timeline for changes will be determined through the development of a comprehensive transition plan with LHSC and STEGH, ensuring a seamless transition process,” the hospital said in a statement.

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“The plan is anticipated to be finalized by March 31 followed by implementation.”

Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital said the decision was not due to financial pressures and there are no staff cuts from winding down the program. Any savings will be reinvested in women’s health services at the hospital.

The hospital will begin on public consultations about the future of its women’s health program as it transitions away from being a birthing center, McBrien said.

“We are very much wanting to look at pre-natal care and post-natal care and how we can support that close to home,” she said. “We want to look at what other services women are going to London for that we might be able to offer.”

The hospital has made unsuccessful attempts to get more babies born at the Strathroy hospital in recent years, including credentialing a large midwifery group. While many Strathroy-area residents choose to give birth at their local hospital, some have opted to deliver elsewhere, McBrien said, adding to the declining numbers in its labor and delivery program.

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Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital, like others across Canada, also has difficulty recruiting and retaining the health care workers it needs, in particularly obstetrical nurses.

“You require specialty nurses to deliver babies, and specialty doctors. Those health human resources are in a serious shortage across the country and in the province,” McBrien said, adding the rate of patients redirected to other hospitals due to staff unavailability is hovering at 40 per cent.

“It’s hard when we have to direct our moms elsewhere because we don’t have the nurses or physicians we need.”

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The hospital’s only obstetrician will be leaving imminently, Strathroy Middlesex General said, another factor hastening the demise of the long-standing program.

LHSC has become the region’s largest birthing hub. A total of 6,139 babies were born at LHSC in 2022, up three per cent from 2021, when its medical teams delivered what was then a record-setting 5,964 babies.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London, the site of more than 100,000 births since the first was recorded in 1901, transferred its perinatal program to LHSC in 2011.

From April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, the latest date data is available, 731 babies were born at STEGH.

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