Hospital to close maternity department

Soon, there will be no more babies born in a Laguna Beach hospital.

South Coast Medical Center officials announced Tuesday that the hospital’s maternity center will be closed.

The decision was demographically and financially motivated, according to saddened hospital officials who announced the closure at a press conference on Tuesday. Maternity services are under-used and are costing the hospital nearly $1 million a year, funds that are sorely needed to meet the needs of the aging population on the South Coast, they said.

“It has become increasingly apparent to us that the residents in the primary cities we serve are older than the average residents in the rest of the county,” hospital President Bruce Christian said. “We have seen an increase in the numbers of patients needing cardiac and cancer care, while experiencing a steady decline in the use of our Maternity Center during past several years.”

A teary-eyed Christian said the decision was personally grievous, even though appropriate to better serve the hospital’s patient base.

“This is emotional for us,” said hospital Chaplain Bucky Weeks, giving Christian a chance to recover his aplomb.

Hospital research shows that 53% of the acute patients treated at the medical center in 2007 were 50 or older — an age group that is most concerned about heart and cancer issues and diligent about annual tests to maintain good health.

“We know who uses the hospital,” South Coast Medical Center Foundation Executive Director Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider said. “We know where they come from and what services they want.”

“Funding the maternity ward at the expense of other departments is not a good practice,” Christian said.

“Our job is to keep this hospital open,” Pearson-Schneider said.

Christian said he has met with officials of other hospitals to find positions for the 23 employees who will be out of a job when maternity department closes this spring and the hospital will pay them full severance benefits. Equipment more than likely will be donated to hospitals outside the United State that have been Adventist Health mission projects.

Funds saved by the cutbacks will be redirected toward services that focus on baby boomers and seniors, Christian said.

The hospital already has invested in state-of-the-art mammography equipment and recently decided to expand radiology services, bringing in a new radiology group to manage and operate the department. New equipment has been promised by the group, according to hospital officials.

Joseph M. Ruggio, who was named 2007 Physician of the Year by the California Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, and his group, Pacific Cardiovascular Associates, have opened offices on the hospital campus,

The hospital’s new focus on cancer treatment services includes the proposed purchase of a new $3 million linear accelerator, a so-called “radiation zapper.”

“We have already raised $1.1 million toward the purchase and we are going into a capital campaign to raise the rest,” Christian said.

South Medical Center is part of Adventist Health, a not-for-profit, faith-based health system operating in California, Hawaii, Oregan and Washington.

The first patient was admitted in July 1959 to the facility, built on donated land and funded by local contributions.

For more information, visit web site www.southcoastmedcenter.org.