Health News
The closing of the maternity ward at Mary Breckinridge Hospital in Hyden last year is part of a larger trend, leading to fewer options for women living in rural areas of the state, contends an op-ed piece in the Daily Yonder, the national online rural journal.
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- Federal Cuts, Financial Instability And Competition Leave Many Rural Hospitals Fearing The Future
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- Frontier Nursing Service Sells Mary Breckinridge Hospital To Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Following the nationwide trend of independent hospitals joining larger organizations in order to stay viable, and ending an era, Hyden's Mary Breckinridge Hospital has been acquired by Appalachian Regional Healthcare. The hospital was sold by the...
Health News
Fewer maternity wards, fewer options for rural Kentucky women
The closing of the maternity ward at Mary Breckinridge Hospital in Hyden last year is part of a larger trend, leading to fewer options for women living in rural areas of the state, contends an op-ed piece in the Daily Yonder, the national online rural journal."There's a big dose of irony here," writes Kelli Haywood, a Lamaze certified childbirth educator. "Mary Breckinridge Hospital, located in Appalachian Kentucky, is named for a pioneer in maternal and infant health who brought the nurse midwifery model of care to the United States."
"With the closing of this facility, women of the entire southeastern Kentucky region lost an important and rare option for birth, as well as the expertise of the hospitals' midwives, most of whom either moved to other parts of the state or left Kentucky altogether," Haywood continues.
Similar closures are happening in other states as well, including Virginia, Ohio and Alabama, which has "lost 26 options for maternity care since 1980," Kaywood states. The reason for the closures has to do with numbers and reimbursements. Mary Breckinridge Hospital averaged just 12 births monthly, but in order to break even financially needed to attend more than twice that. In some cases, an aging population is leading to fewer births, but some rural areas are still underserved when it comes to maternity care.
The consequences means rural women will have to travel further, and incur related expenses, to receive maternity care. That will put pressure on other rural hospitals, which will in turn have consequences. Studies show medical interventions, such as cesarean sections, are more common in rural hospitals where "care providers are feeling the pressure of a high patient load," Haywood writes. But these procedures carry risks ? a Mayo Clinic study showed the risk of death to the mother was four times greater when she delivered via caesearean section rather than vaginally ? and are more costly. An uncomplicated vaginal birth costs between $3,000 and $6,000, while a c-section birth can be between $10,000 and $40,000, Haywood contends.
Haywood points to midwifery and free-standing birth centers as possible solutions, but admits there is no easy answer. However, a solution is needed. "In a healthcare system where maternity care providers are facing the highest malpractice premiums of any physicians, and as obstetricians become fewer in number, it is not surprising that we are seeing closures of maternity services in rural hospitals and increases in the rates of medical interventions. Rather than fighting to keep a system that is not benefitting rural women, healthcare providers, or state governments, we need new models of care and ways in which that care can be obtained safely, close to home." (Read more)
- Free-standing Emergency Departments Could Be The Solution To Keeping Hospital Services In Rural Areas
The tribulations of rural hospitals in Georgia, and the response, could signal a new direction for saving such facilities. Four rural hospitals in Georgia "have closed in the past two years, and several more either have closed or significantly reduced...
- Older Rural Residents Are More Likely To Seek Care At Rural Hospitals, National Study Finds
Rural hospitals are more likely to serve older patients seeking hospitalization, while younger rural residents seek medical care in urban areas, says a study by the National Center for Health Statistics at the federal Centers for Disease Control....
- Frontier Nursing University In Hyden Helps Bring Better Family Health Care To Rural America With Distance Learning
Midwives and nurse practitioners who recently graduated from Frontier Nursing University in Hyden address the unique challenges of rural areas, including shortages of health care providers, by bringing local health care to rural communities...
- Federal Cuts, Financial Instability And Competition Leave Many Rural Hospitals Fearing The Future
Many rural hospitals could be forced to close because of cuts to the Critical Access Program and the fact that, according to the National Rural Health Association, , 41 percent of critical-care hospitals are losing money, reports Jenny Gold of Kaiser...
- Frontier Nursing Service Sells Mary Breckinridge Hospital To Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Following the nationwide trend of independent hospitals joining larger organizations in order to stay viable, and ending an era, Hyden's Mary Breckinridge Hospital has been acquired by Appalachian Regional Healthcare. The hospital was sold by the...