Is Summa considering a birthing center in Medina in the wake of Cleveland Clinic Akron General closing its maternity unit at Medina Hospital at the end of June?
That depends on who you ask.
In an interview Wednesday, Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell said he’s been told Summa is looking at the possibility.
Hanwell said he was told by Dr. John Surso, Summa’s medical officer and community liaison at its Summa Health Medina Medical Center, that the doctor was talking to Summa officials about opening a birthing center.
However, Summa spokesman Mike Bernstein said Wednesday that Summa has “no plans for a birthing center at this time in Medina.”
Surso, a Medina family practice doctor, said in an interview with the Medina Gazette on Tuesday that Summa is committed to providing care in Medina County and he understands many people believe not having a birthing unit in Medina County leaves a gap.
A call to Surso’s office on Wednesday was not returned.
“I would confirm the fact we are assessing the situation and trying to seek solutions,” Surso told the Gazette. “At this point, I can’t speak to any specific solutions. It’s an emotional situation right now.”
When asked if Surso had misspoken or shared details too soon, Bernstein said: “I wasn’t part of any conversations that took place with Dr. Surso. I can only tell you we have no plans for a birthing center in Medina at this time.”
Last month, Cleveland Clinic announced that it is shuttering the Medina Hospital maternity unit and consolidating its labor and delivery services at three hub hospitals — Akron General, Fairview and Hillcrest. Hospital officials said about 65 percent of expectant mothers in Medina County are now leaving to deliver their babies at hospitals with high-level neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).
But the mayor said he’s heard from many concerned expectant parents who want to give birth in Medina and are worried about having to drive 30 minutes to an hour to give birth in another county. Medina Hospital serves patients in Medina County and northern Wayne and Ashland counties, the mayor said.
“I’m trying to work with the Clinic and trying to save the birthing center here. It seems like we’re running into roadblocks,” Hanwell said.
The mayor acknowledged that he received a response from Dr. Toby Cosgrove, Cleveland Clinic CEO, to his request for reconsideration. Cosgrove reiterated that the Clinic felt delivering babies at a hub hospital was “more advantageous,” Hanwell said.
Hanwell said he reached out to local legislators as well as Surso to look for other possibilities.
In an interview Wednesday in Akron before he gave a community update on Cleveland Clinic Akron General, Cosgrove said the decision to close Medina’s birthing center was “a very difficult situation and a difficult decision to make.”
However, Cosgrove said the number of baby deliveries at Medina Hospital has consistently gone down in the last several years “in spite of the fact that we have brought in additional obstetricians and brought in neonatologists. This is contrary to everything going on at that hospital,” with admissions and surgeries increasing, he said.
Cosgrove said the decision was made to end deliveries “before we got to some issue where we don’t have enough of a practice to keep the team at peak, we want to make the decision that’s best for both mothers and children.”
Surso told Hanwell that Summa had been looking to try to increase its presence in Medina and that the doctor was talking to Summa administration about putting together a panel to review the possibility of opening a birthing center.
Hanwell said he hopes Summa is looking into it.
Surso told Hanwell that Summa wouldn’t have enough time to build onto its Medina facility before the Clinic’s unit closed, but there could be some room in the existing building in the meantime. Hanwell said he was told another possibility is opening a temporary birthing center on Summa’s Wadsworth campus.
Summa Health eliminated Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital’s maternity ward in 2009 after purchasing the hospital in 2008 for $1. Other inpatient units were closed six years later.
That prompted the Wadsworth-Rittman Area Joint Township Hospital District to sue. In February, Summa and the joint district reached a legal settlement that could, among other things, clear a path for a full-service community hospital’s return to Wadsworth.
Under the agreement, the hospital district has 18 months to find a group to operate its campus as an inpatient, acute-care hospital. If the district makes a deal, Summa will transfer ownership of the buildings to the hospital district at that time. Summa currently provides an emergency/urgent care unit, outpatient surgery, primary care, specialty support in cardiology and general surgery, diagnostic imaging and outpatient lab services at the former community hospital.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty.