The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center will close the 17-bed obstetrical unit at UPMC Shadyside in November, transferring those services to its Magee-Womens Hospital in Oakland.
The move will leave Magee, which delivered 8,310 babies during the last fiscal year, as the only UPMC hospital in the Pittsburgh area with an obstetrics unit.
But in contrast to previous OB closures, which occurred because of declining birth rates, the Shadyside unit will close to make room for the hospital's expanding medical-surgical patient load, said Elizabeth Concordia, UPMC senior vice president for academic and community hospitals.
Since Shadyside merged with UPMC in 2000, overall admissions have increased by 20 percent.
UPMC closed the obstetrics departments at UPMC Passavant in McCandless last year and at UPMC McKeesport in 2000, citing marked declines in deliveries. A drop in births also resulted in the closing of the obstetrics unit of St. Francis Medical Center in Lawrenceville in 2001.
The number of deliveries at Shadyside, however, has held relatively steady, said UPMC spokeswoman Jane Duffield. In fiscal 2002, 974 babies were born there, rising to 1,058 in 2003 as some displaced Passavant physicians shifted patients to Shadyside. In fiscal 2004, 963 babies were delivered.
About half of the physicians who deliver babies at Shadyside are in private practice.
Closure of smaller obstetric units has been a trend both statewide and nationwide, in response both to the growing costs of medical malpractice insurance and to general pressures to reduce costs.
Though UPMC has consolidated its obstetrics services at Magee, the West Penn Allegheny Health System continues to offer obstetrical services at four of its six hospitals: West Penn, Allegheny General, Forbes and Alle-Kiski.
In the Pittsburgh area, Mercy, Mercy Jeannette, Ohio Valley and St. Clair hospitals also have obstetrical units. Several UPMC hospitals outside the Pittsburgh area, including Lee Regional in Johnstown and Horizon in Mercer County, also continue to deliver babies.
First Published: September 11, 2004, 4:00 a.m.
