LABOR AND DELIVERY SERVICES COULD BE ENDING AT BAYLOR SCOTT AND WHITE
UPDATE AT 4:30 p.m.
Brenham’s Baylor Scott and White Hospital could be discontinuing Labor and Delivery Services.
Local members of the Baylor Scott & White Board have been asked to attend a special Board meeting next Thursday concerning Labor and Delivery Care. A post on social media that has been widely shared, says a vote will be taken on Thursday to eliminate Labor and Delivery Services at the Brenham hospital due to it not being profitable. When asked about the possibility of this being true, Baylor Scott & White officials referred to an official statement which was released this (Friday) afternoon.
The official statement reads: "Baylor Scott & White Health is committed to offering high-quality care to the communities it serves, and evolving with them as well. As such, more than $4 million has recently been committed to growing services in the Brenham area. We are constantly looking at opportunities with these priorities in mind and with guidance and direction from the leadership of our hospital board, comprised of three healthcare professionals and eight Washington County community members. We remain dedicated to sharing news about any changes to service offerings as soon as it becomes available."
Local Baylor Scott & White Board members say they have only been given the topic of the meeting, and have not been told whether the Company intends to eliminate Labor and Delivery Services at the Brenham hospital.
UPADATE AT 4 p.m.
UPDATE: Baylor Scott & White Hospital has issued a statement addressing the possible discontinuation of Labor and Delivery Services at its Brenham Hospital. Local members of the Baylor Scott & White Board have been asked to attend a special Board meeting next Thursday concerning Labor and Delivery Care. The official statement reads: "Baylor Scott & White Health is committed to offering high-quality care to the communities it serves, and evolving with them as well. As such, more than $4 million has recently been committed to growing services in the Brenham area. We are constantly looking at opportunities with these priorities in mind and with guidance and direction from the leadership of our hospital board, comprised of three healthcare professionals and eight Washington County community members. We remain dedicated to sharing news about any changes to service offerings as soon as it becomes available."
Local Baylor Scott & White Board members say they have only been given the topic of the meeting, and have not been told whether the Company intends to eliminate Labor and Delivery Services at the Brenham hospital.
UPDATE at 3 p.m.
UPDATE: Megan Hoffman, spokesperson for Baylor Scott & White Hospital - Brenham, tells KWHI News that she has been working on an official statement on behalf of the company. However, Hoffman says nothing has been approved for release yet. Hospital Vice President of Operations, John O'Hearn, declined comment on next week's Board meeting, saying that everyone is being referred to Hoffman so that the Company speaks with one voice.
A post is making the rounds on social media concerning the future of Labor and Delivery Care at Brenham’s Baylor Scott & White Hospital.
New Beginnings Pregnancy Care Center in Brenham has shared a post on Facebook that says the Board of Directors for Brenham Baylor Scott & White will hold a special meeting next Thursday concerning Labor and Delivery services at the hospital.
The post says the Board will be presented with a proposal to discontinue those services at the Brenham hospital because they are not “profitable”.
So far, KWHI News has been able to confirm that “Labor and Delivery Care” is the topic of next Thursday’s Board meeting. However, we have not confirmed that they will consider a proposal to discontinue those services.
Baylor Scott & White Hospital has always billed itself as a “non-profit” organization. Earlier this fall it was announced that Baylor Scott & White would be merging with the Memorial Hermann Health System. KWHI News will continue investigating this story, and will have more details later this afternoon.
It seems that the hospital business has become a “bigger is better” business. The more consolidations, the greater the number of employees, the greater salary paid to top administrators. Does Brenham even have a first class trauma room as of late? In our experience a baby ‘has its own mind about when it arrives’. I guess this means (1) You set an appointment (2) You go to the appointment & labor is induced chemically. Is that good? Some consolidation makes sense, But emergencies & normal births don’t set up appointments.
You were warned. This is a perfect example of how creeping socialism increases costs on everyone. Now you’ll have to burn extra gas and time to have your baby. Regardless of S&W being non-profit, they have to cover the bills. If they lose money, we lose the whole hospital. Keep voting for “free” healthcare and you’ll eventually get it. Too bad you’ll have to drive to Houston to access it.
The 2018 merger creating the latest version of S&W with Memorial Hermann creates a multi-billion dollar entity, it will employ more than 73,000 people across Texas, spanning 30 Texas counties. The two systems include 68 hospital campuses, more than 1,100 care delivery sites, nearly 14,000 employed, independent and academic physicians and two health plans with nearly 10 million patient encounters annually recorded. They have very likely plenty of available funds to continue offering labor and delivery at the Brenham location. This is not a decision made by a struggling tiny rural hospital to keep its doors open. It’s will be likely a cold decision made from an accounting matrix and decided far from Brenham. Where are the local board members? They’ll be forever remembered for this decision,after the very last person is born in Washington County. Don’t let the millions in advertising cover up this fact.
As a currently expecting mother, I personally do not feel as if they are taking into consideration the effect this will have on our community. A lot of women are not able to drive 45-1 hour to a hospital to deliver, what happens when the women ends up going into labor early and doesn’t have time to make it that far. Is our local ER going to be able to deliver that baby? Or does one just have to call an ambulance and have them rush you to the nearest hospital that can accommodate the situation, which includes more money bc of needing that ambulance. This is just NOT a logical decision. And I personally feel like they are NOT taking patients into considerable but are choosing money over health, which is sad. Yes I know we need the staff but cut cost somewhere else, not in the L&D and be more considerate those mothers who are currently expecting and plan to expect in the future.
Sad, profit over people.
The list of local Brenham board of the hospital can be found under the leadership section of the Brenham Scott and White Hospital website. If they act accordingly to the financial wishes of the S&W organization then no baby and no one ever will be born in Washington County again. This is a significant issue with historical impact, but because the larger S&W organization is based in Temple and overseen by the S&W in College Station, it likely matters little to their accounting department. Amazing that they have always found so much funding for local advertising, but now there is not enough to fund another Ob-Gyn position in Washington County. In my opinion this is a terrible decision that no future advertising campaign will erase. Being born in Washington County is a priceless tradition for generations and it’s about to be gone forever due to some hospital accounting department in Temple.
Shadow, has an excellent point, they seem to have ample money for advertising which seems strange for a local hospital with no local competition. Maybe they should consider cutting back on the marketing and focus more on patient care, a good reputation is always better than a good marketing campaign.
But why the post? There must be someone that heard that there is a proposal, it’s happened at St Mark’s in LaGrange and The Med in College Station; so how can it hurt to not have the community voice their concerns to the board members before it’s too late and Brenham becomes another town without Labor and Delivery Services at our Hospital. Let’s be proactive and protect our families in and around our Community!