02.21
LU EXCLUSIVE REPORT:
Less than two months ago, Hutcheson’s well-regarded Women’s Center was suddenly closed as part of a vague plan to save money. Now hospital leaders are preparing to reopen the unit on a smaller scale, as part of a vague plan to.. save money.
Hutcheson insiders say the hospital’s board now feels closing HMC’s OBGYN wing was a mistake (as everyone else said at the time), and have seen financial losses grow larger since it closed on New Year’s Eve.
Women’s Center employees who transferred to other areas of Hutcheson in January are now being offered their old jobs back, and the hospital is spending money it doesn’t have to remodel and update the closed building in preparation for relaunch.
A restarted OBGYN center would again offer labor and delivery, but would not have a NICU facility or nursery for premature or sick babies; 2/3 of employees at the old pre-close Women’s Center worked in those areas, so keeping them shuttered will cut payroll. (Sick or premature babies will require transfer to better equipped hospitals.)
“Rebirth” for Women’s Center at Hutcheson is tentatively planned for May – unless idiot CEO Farrell Hayes and the clueless County Hospital Board change their minds again before then.
More as this develops..