SAN ANTONIO – It is the end of an era at Northeast Baptist Hospital on Village Drive, near Loop 410, as the last cries of birth are now echoing in the maternity unit halls. The hospital announced to its staff last Friday that it would be shutting down the labor and delivery unit once the last babies are sent home on June 30.
Northeast Baptist released a statement that reads the following in part:
“After careful consideration, we have decided to consolidate our labor and delivery unit at Northeast Baptist Hospital into the existing program offered at nearby North Central Baptist Hospital. The transition will better position our network to offer more specialized services at each location. It will allow Northeast Baptist Hospital to better focus on services needed in the community, while providing maternity patients with access to a broader range of specialized services for mom and baby, including a Level IV NICU at North Central Baptist Hospital, an in-house obstetrical hospitalist program that provides patients with immediate access to a board-certified obstetrician 24/7, high risk maternal and neonatal transport teams and access to expert pediatric care at our Baptist Children’s Hospital at North Central.”
In other words, all labor and delivery will now take place in a soon-to-be-expanded Women’s Services at North Central Baptist Hospital.
Current and former staff say they were shocked by the move and a bit saddened.
“We’ve been there forever -- the cornerstone of the community in that area. And now it’s just going to be gone. It’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh,’” said Kay Banus, a former lactation specialist who retired after a COVID-19 furlough.
Banus estimates that she handled at least 1,000 babies at Northeast in her 16-year career there. She suspects the COVID-induced slowdown of services played a role in the new configuration at Baptist but says she is proud of the many accomplishments the little maternity unit completed.
“We were kind of cutting edge at the time. We had that wonderful NICU that was very family-friendly when family-friendly NICUs weren’t a thing. We just had such a stable staff,” said Banus, the internationally accredited lactation consultant.
Some maternity staff have been on the job for 30 years and will likely consider moving to the new Women’s Unit at the North Central location.
Read Northeast Baptist Hospital’s entire statement below:
“All of Baptist Health System’s network of six acute care hospitals strive to provide trusted, high-quality care to the community. It is important that we invest our resources and tailor our services to best meet the needs of those we serve.
“After careful consideration, we have decided to consolidate our labor and delivery unit at Northeast Baptist Hospital into the existing program offered at nearby North Central Baptist Hospital. The transition will better position our network to offer more specialized services at each location. It will allow Northeast Baptist Hospital to better focus on services needed in the community, while providing maternity patients with access to a broader range of specialized services for mom and baby, including a Level IV NICU at North Central Baptist Hospital, an in-house obstetrical hospitalist program that provides patients with immediate access to a board-certified obstetrician 24/7, high risk maternal and neonatal transport teams and access to expert pediatric care at our Baptist Children’s Hospital at North Central.
“We are expanding and enhancing women’s services at North Central Baptist via a multimillion-dollar investment. North Central is completing the design phase and will begin construction and renovation later this fall and into next year. These enhancements will bring about improvements to capacity, aesthetics, and clinical technology.
“Northeast Baptist will continue to provide gynecological care and related surgical services such as hysterectomy and other laparoscopic and minimally invasive procedures. Northeast Baptist Hospital is proud of its rich history in Women’s Services and we are grateful to the obstetrics department staff and physicians at Northeast Baptist Hospital for their continued commitment to provide our patients with outstanding care. Their professionalism and skill, has helped create cherished memories for countless families over the years.”