Scripps Health moving Chula Vista labor and delivery unit to Hillcrest

Kasia Gregorczyk
·2 min read
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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Scripps Health is planning to dissolve the obstetrics unit in Chula Vista, pushing all labor and delivery up to Scripps Mercy Hillcrest. The unit has 30 beds.

Officials with Scripps say the consolidation of care is a way to relieve the burden on the busy emergency department in the South Bay.

In a statement to FOX 5 Scripps says:

“Inpatient medical-surgical beds at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista are currently occupied at or beyond full licensed capacity, while on average only about half of the beds in the OB unit are in use.”

They say repurposing the space will meet increasing demands of patients coming through the emergency room, decreasing long wait times and expanding critical needs like cardiac care.

“The need to drive to receive care extending to 10, 15, 30 additional miles can play a significant role in outcomes as it relates to mom and baby,” said Andrew Smith, Executive Director of Market Impact for March of Dimes.

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Representatives for March of Dimes, a nonprofit that works to improve the health of mothers and babies, have studied the imacts like pre-term birth as similar closures happen all over the country.

Just this past fall, Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside suspended labor and delivery services, causing many North County patients to drive farther for care.

“The United States remains among the most dangerous develop countries to give birth. We are currently in a maternal infant health crisis where Black, Hispanic, Native American women, are disproportionally impacted by the lack of access to maternity care. To hear that another location is closing across America, I only think of the families that are going to be impacted and how much more dangerous it may be for families in our communities,” Smith said.

Scripps says the move will impact 135 staff members who will be assisted with other opportunities within the health care group or community partners.

There is no exact date for the move yet, but the transition begins with a 90-day regulatory notice and comment period which should run through mid-June. Until then, all planned deliveries will happen in Chula Vista.

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