BAYLOR SCOTT AND WHITE BIRTH SERVICES CONTINUE FOR NOW
Brenham’s local hospital will continue to offer Labor and Delivery Care, for now.
The local Board of Directors for Brenham’s Baylor Scott and White Hospital voted Tuesday against a proposal to discontinue childbirth services. Shirley Herring, Chairman of the local Board, says that Baylor Scott and White’s reason for wanting to end Labor and Delivery Care at the Brenham hospital is not about money, but rather the lack of a second certified OB/GYN. With the recent death of Dr. Wylie Nobles, the hospital only has Dr. Aaron Campbell available to handle OB/GYN emergencies and cases. Herring says a minimum of two doctors is required, and that Baylor Scott and White administration has been unable to find someone to fill that slot.
Wednesday afternoon, Jason Jennings, President and CEO of Baylor Scott and White’s College Station region, which includes Brenham, issued the following statement concerning Tuesday’s vote:
Brenham Community,
Providing safe, quality and compassionate care is at the center of our longstanding commitment to Brenham. Every person who enters our doors is more than a patient—they are our family and friends. The care we deliver is personal; it’s because of this, we want to deliver the very best care possible.
We regularly review our service lines to ensure they are meeting the needs of our community as well as our own high standards of care. Our evaluation of labor and delivery services stemmed from several factors, including unexpected staffing changes with OB/GYN physicians and L&D nurses, the ongoing trend of expectant mothers leaving Brenham to deliver and the low number of births occurring at our facility. As a result, we will be challenged in meeting new state maternal designation requirements due to the staffing and coverage issues listed above.
In light of this, our hospital’s operating board met last night. After heartfelt discussion, the board determined additional time was needed to evaluate our options related to L&D. As such these services will continue at this time. Should there be any changes to our services, we will keep you informed.
Our commitment to Brenham remains strong. Over the past 18 months, we have invested more than $4 million in renovations, new equipment and new services, including the addition of three clinics, a new outpatient orthopedic service line, expanded physical and occupational therapy clinic, a new pain clinic, and we have plans to add cardiac rehabilitation in the coming months. Our Brenham roots are—and will—remain strong.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Jason Jennings
President
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Brenham
It has been just seven weeks since Dr. Nobles’ death. The hospital is apparently on a short timetable to find a replacement doctor who is a certified OB/GYN.
Part of the reason so many mothers were going out of town to have their babies was the Brenham Clinic doctors were not allowed to work at the hospital since the Clinic was with the Med. Maybe now that the Clinic is part of BS&W our local doctors can once again have their patients admitted here at the LOCAL hospital for all kinds of treatments, not just L&D.
This is the tip of the iceberg for a much larger problem. When locals lose or turn over local control, things usually end up worse. That is true for many areas such as public schools, county run junior colleges, retailers, land condemnation procedures, medical facilities, car dealerships, etc. I recently spoke with someone from FT. Bend County who said the once family oriented county fair was now run by beer companies. He admitted the crowds were larger, but the fair had lost much of the family/local feel. What did the leg of the toll road from Austin to I-10 do for locals? It split apart farms/ranches that had been in families for generations, It cannot even generate the revenues needed to pay the bills. What will high speed rail do for the folks along the condemned right-of way? But it will make some well connected, money loaded/backed folks rich. Some folks in the large terminal cities may benefit, but very few locals will. Through takeovers, condemnation procedures, consolidations, & annexations, any local concerns are moved to the end of the line.
Im not an expecting mother, heck im not even a father, but i know bs when i see it! Mr Jennings letter saying they see patients as “family”….what a joke. I cant believe they want to shut down the child birth department instead of hiring ob/gyn’s. They graduate from medical school constantly and im sure there are more than qualified candidates who would love to be here. Does Scott & White and Mr Jennings expect his “family” to go to College Station or another city for all their prenatal and labor care. Just how expensive does that get, since this isnt about money……it looks like the wrong people are making decisions these days, but that doesnt surprise me…….
Yes that is exactly what they want, is for you to have to travel to another college station or another city when you are currently IN LABOR, make so much sense, right? Taking away dollars from our own county but taking it to somewhere else. What if an expecting mother isn’t able to find someone to drive them 45 mins to get delivery services, oh yeah you have to call an ambulance and have yet ANOTHER more expensive bill because the local brenham “president” doesn’t want you to be able to have the luxury to be able to just to seek the needed services in your own town. But I agree….it is ALL about money here, not about PATIENTS.
Shame on you Scott and White! Yes, you have poured money into acquiring other properties and practices, but did you pour money into recruiting an ob-gyn to take the place of Dr. Campbell when he left the Scott and White medical offices? No, you left the office staffed by one new-to-Brenham doctor. Did you pour money into recruiting someone to take Dr. Laramie’s (?) place after Dr. DeLukie transferred to Temple? No, you chose to shut down the ob-gyn services, with the exception of a PA who comes in once a week. Did you look into relocating one of the doctors listed in the 23 pages of ob-gyn doctors and/or doing a time share as you do with the ER doctors? No, instead you closed this portion of the clinic.
Based on this article, you have left Dr. Campbell alone in the labor and delivery for at least the past seven weeks, since Dr. Wiley passed away. Shame on you! This means that Dr. Campbell has been on call for the past 7 weeks, 24 hours a day. This is not the safe, quality, and compassionate care that you state. It certainly is not for Dr. Campbell or his family. Shame on you Scott and White!
Yet, Brenham Family Practice and Obstetrics have the certifications to deliver babies- why can they not be counted to rotate into the L and D with Dr. Campbell? Yes, there is a change in the requirements for the number of doctors available. But, the doctors at Brenham Family Practice and Obstetrics do meet the requirements, so they absolutely should be considered as an option.
And the comment about the trend of moms leaving Brenham to deliver their babies- well that is on you too Scott and White. You have done little to nothing to promote L and D. You have done little to nothing to positively promote the hospital at all. I was there this summer with my daughter. We were served by fantastic doctors and nurses in a clean facility. I have nothing but positive things to say about our experience there. Many, many Brenham people have positive things to say about the hospital and Labor and Delivery, specifically. But, their stories are not being told and promoted. Use us! The reason mom’s choose to go elsewhere for their delivery is because they do not know what fantastic facilities are in their backyard. That is on you, Scott and White.
If you are willing to pour $4 million dollars in to buildings and practices, then you should be willing to pour money in to promotions and marketing. And you most certainly should be able to figure out the staffing needs for short term help until you can find the perfect fit for our fabulous community. A fit that will absolutely take longer than 7 weeks to find. You are pouring out excuses and laying the blame at the man who has been left holding everything together. Shame on you! We deserve better!
Could NOT have said this better myself. I truly hope they read these comments and take us locals, and currently expecting mothers into consideration. They should be doing more to promote our L&D services, instead of wanting to close it. Dr. Campbell is doing EVERYTHING he can, and as stated above, it isn’t fair to his family that he has to be on call 24/7 because some management around here are not actively trying to promote a new position to fill another OBGYN. Thanks for keeping it open “for now”, hopefully I will be able to have my baby here before our hospital decides to be selfish and close it and spend cost elsewhere.
I was about to leave a comment but decided to read all of these comments first – glad I did. You saved me a lot of writing Chris. You took the words right out of my mouth! EXACTLY what needed to be said. This is a fantastic L&D that needs to be promoted and there are plenty of OBGYN’s out there that can fill this role (are they even recruiting for this???).
Keep the doors open and promote L&D as it should be and more expectant mothers of Washington County will see how amazing the facilities are. Who wouldn’t want to brag about having their child born in the birthplace of Texas!
We miss Dr.Nobles dearly.!!!
One of the VERY BEST
There will never be another. Rest in Heaven.