In what nurses at Hemet Global Medical Center called an unexpected development, the hospital this week announced it plans to close its obstetrics department.
Social media video showed outraged staff taking to the sidewalk outside the hospital on Tuesday, Aug. 27, to express their disappointment and urge the hospital to rethink the closure.
Nurses said the obstetrics department is slated to close Oct. 31, but hospital officials have not announced a date for the closure.
In a news release, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United voiced concerns over patient safety and care, noting that closing the obstetrics department would mean the loss of specialized care in the Hemet area.
“Closing obstetrics services at our hospital will affect our most vulnerable populations, who are already at risk for poor health outcomes,” Ginny Packham, a labor and delivery nurse at Hemet Global Medical Center, said in the release. “Closing this vital community resource will hurt our pregnant patients, who will now need to travel much further to get obstetrics care.”
Meanwhile, in an official statement from the hospital, officials cited a shortage in physicians for the decision to file with the California Department of Health for a “temporary closure.” The hospital did not elaborate on the timeline.
The closest labor-and-delivery options for Hemet-area patients are San Gorgonio Hospital, about 17 miles away, and Loma Linda University Health in Murrieta, about 21 miles away. Travel times can range from 35 minutes to one hour to those locations, depending on traffic.
Packham said in an emailed statement that none of the obstetrics nurses had been formally offered other positions within the hospital or system after receiving a written notice Tuesday informing them of the closure of the unit.
“Obstetrics nurses have very specialized training and certifications. If we want to stay current in those certifications, we need to work as OB nurses,” Packham said in an emailed statement. “We want to work as labor and delivery or postpartum nurses. We got into obstetrics because we really want to work in that area.”
According to the hospital, nurses in the obstetrics department will be offered alternate positions.
“All labor and delivery unit employees are being offered the opportunity to transfer to open positions at Hemet Global Medical Center and Menifee Global Medical Center,” the hospital’s statement reads in part. “The emergency department remains open and fully accessible for emergency deliveries.”
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Hemet Global Medical Center is part of the KPC healthcare system, which includes six other locations in Southern California — Anaheim, Menifee, Orange County, South Coast, Chapman and Victor Valley.
With the closure of Hemet’s labor and delivery unit, only three KPC locations will offer such services: Victorville, Orange County, and South Coast.
