John Baran has a special connection with the maternity department at Auburn Memorial Hospital. That's where he came into the world.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
The three new birthing rooms at Auburn Memorial Hospital feature ample room for furniture and obstetrical equipment.
The three new birthing rooms at Auburn Memorial Hospital feature ample room for furniture and obstetrical equipment.
Baran, the hospital's chief financial officer, has the documentation to prove it. Hanging next to the door of his office is the billing statement from his first visit.
The hospital charged his mother $70.95 for its services, according to the bill.
So when Baran and the rest of the management at Auburn Memorial first heard the state was going to shut down the hospital's maternity services, one of his first thoughts was to find a way to prevent that from happening.
“They couldn't close OB-GYN on us,” Baran said. “It was just plain wrong, and we had to fight it.”
That fight will finally come to an end on Sept. 8, when the hospital officially opens Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology. The practice will ensure that local women can receive comprehensive maternity and health services in Auburn for years to come, hospital officials say.
The new program is also doubling the number of OB-GYN physicians at the hospital, which officials hope will give a boost to the number of babies born in Auburn - a number that has dwindled in recent years.
But losing the hospital's obstetrics practice would have meant more than losing birth statistics, Baran said.
“Maternity is a hospital's link to the community. Once you have a mother deliver here, you have that mother for the next 20 years,” Baran said. “When any community hospital opens, the first service it should offer is OB-GYN.”
Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology will open almost two years after the state Commission on Health Care
FacilFacilities in the 21st Century (also known as the Berger Commission) recommended the hospital close its maternity unit.
The commission stated in the recommendation that the closure would relieve some of the hospital's financial hardships. And at the time, AMH was only delivering approximately 300 babies a year with 15 beds, according to the report.
If the hospital shut down maternity services, local women would have to drive more than 20 miles to Community General in Syracuse to have babies delivered.
Roz McCormick, chief operating officer at Auburn Memorial, said the poorer women in the community would be the ones most effected by this. Many of them don't have cars and they show up to the hospital in taxis, she said.
And there would still be women who would show up at AMH in emergency labor who would have to deliver in the emergency room, McCormick said.
“The community hospital absolutely should be delivering babies,” she said. “We have people in the community who wouldn't have access to these services.”
So when the Berger Commission released its recommendation, Baran, McCormick and other hospital officials worked to reverse the decision. In Cayuga County, 1,600 residents petitioned the Assembly Committee on Health in December 2006 to keep the facility open. Hospital officials gave their case to the state Department of Health last June during a meeting.
Then they waited. McCormick said none of the department's nurses or clinical staff left in wake of the recommendations.
The news came in January that the maternity program would continue.
“The day we got the news, it was like New Year's Eve in here,” Baran said.
The new practice will boast four physicians and three nurses and midwives and a renovated facility. A $274,000 was secured to modernize the department, and $330,000 grant was used for a Hologic Selenia mammography unit.
But despite the physical changes, McCormick said maternity customers will still receive basic obstetric and gynecological services, as well as midwifery.
“We're still looking to offer a quality, comprehensive program,” she said.
Challenges behind, in front of maternity program
When Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology opens Sept. 8, it will feature a number of new doctors and nurses. In order to make that happen, Auburn Memorial Hospital has been recruiting new staff for more than a year.
It is difficult enough to recruit quality personnel in a competitive field. The maternity department's uncertain future did not make recruiting any easier, McCormick said.
And it did not help that at the same time, the hospital was going through Chapter 11 proceedings for bankruptcy protection.
“The biggest challenge was the uncertainty of what was going to happen,” McCormick said. “People were wondering ‘Why should I come here and move my family here?' “
But hospital officials continued to pursue the names they wanted, despite the uncertain future. If obstetrics were to continue at Auburn Memorial, it would “kick off with a bang,” she said.
Marge Tracy was one of the names recruited by the hospital. A registered nurse and a midwife, Tracy has worked in Auburn and Syracuse over the years.
When hospital officials approached her, the instability made her unsure about joining up, she said. But Tracy also had a connection to the institution -- she was born at AMH, and she also gave birth there.
She gave the recruiters a list of things she wanted to see done before she would consider working there. The department needed more doctors. The Berger recommendation had to be overturned.
“They were very persistent, and the enthusiasm wore off,” Tracy said.
But despite the fresh faces, there could be challenges to recruiting another group of people -- patients.
McCormick said the hospital hopes to double its 2007 patient count of approximately 250 by next year. Baran said he thinks it could take a little longer to log those kinds of numbers.
“A couple of years down the road, and we'll be there,” he said.
Tracy said one of the biggest challenges in finding new patients has the same source as the reason for keeping the program in the first place. When a mother gives birth at a hospital, she will stay with it for future children, Tracy said.
And unfortunately, while AMH has continued to deliver babies through its challenges, the public issues have sent some patients to other places like Community General, she said.
“People think (the recommendation) had to do with safety,” Tracy said. “They don't understand that it had nothing to do with that.”
McCormick said one of the best ways for the hospital to build its patient base will be to offer quality care. If you do that, they will come, she said.
And once they start coming, Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology can start considering service expansion, she continued. There are already plans for a new cesarean unit, according to McCormick. And there are hopes for counseling services, support groups and other programs, she said.
“We are expecting that the word is going to get out, and we are going to get extremely busy here,” McCormick said. “All women deserve to be cared for in a high quality manner.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
Babies on board - recent birth rates at Auburn
Memorial Hospital
2008 - 167 through July 31
2007 - 250
2006 - 314
2005 - 415
Meet some of the new faces at Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology:
• Dr. Loren Van Riper earned his MD at the University of Minnesota's medical school, and he completed a residency at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. He is board certified.
• Dr. James W. Alexander earned an MD from the University of Vermont, and he completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester. He is board certified.
• Dr. Mary M. Wilsch earned her MD at State University of New York at Buffalo, and she had an internship and residency at the University of Rochester medical school's Strong Memorial Hospital. She is board certified.
• Dr. Allison M. Loi earned her MD from the University of Rochester and she was a resident physician in the university medical center's OB-GYN department. She is a junior fellow in the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
• Marge M. Tracy, certified nurse and midwife, earned an MS degree in midwifery at SUNY Stonybrook. She is a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives.
A recent history of maternity at AMH
• June 2005 - AMH keeps offering epidurals for its maternity patients after successfully negotiating contract with anesthesiologists.
• November 2006 - The state Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century recommends AMH closes its maternity program.
• December 2006 - More than 1,500 Cayuga County residents sign a petition asking the state Legislature to keep AMH maternity open.
• December 2006 - AMH successfully matches $4.4 million state grant from the Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers.
• January 2007 - Berger Commission recommendations become law.
• April 2007 - AMH declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• June 2007 - AMH officials ask state Department of Health to reconsider maternity closure.
• January 2008 - AMH announces it will keep maternity services.
• July 2008 - U.S. Bankruptcy Court says okay to AMH reorganization plan.
• September 2008 - Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology to open.
The hospital charged his mother $70.95 for its services, according to the bill.
So when Baran and the rest of the management at Auburn Memorial first heard the state was going to shut down the hospital's maternity services, one of his first thoughts was to find a way to prevent that from happening.
“They couldn't close OB-GYN on us,” Baran said. “It was just plain wrong, and we had to fight it.”
That fight will finally come to an end on Sept. 8, when the hospital officially opens Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology. The practice will ensure that local women can receive comprehensive maternity and health services in Auburn for years to come, hospital officials say.
The new program is also doubling the number of OB-GYN physicians at the hospital, which officials hope will give a boost to the number of babies born in Auburn - a number that has dwindled in recent years.
But losing the hospital's obstetrics practice would have meant more than losing birth statistics, Baran said.
“Maternity is a hospital's link to the community. Once you have a mother deliver here, you have that mother for the next 20 years,” Baran said. “When any community hospital opens, the first service it should offer is OB-GYN.”
Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology will open almost two years after the state Commission on Health Care
FacilFacilities in the 21st Century (also known as the Berger Commission) recommended the hospital close its maternity unit.
The commission stated in the recommendation that the closure would relieve some of the hospital's financial hardships. And at the time, AMH was only delivering approximately 300 babies a year with 15 beds, according to the report.
If the hospital shut down maternity services, local women would have to drive more than 20 miles to Community General in Syracuse to have babies delivered.
Roz McCormick, chief operating officer at Auburn Memorial, said the poorer women in the community would be the ones most effected by this. Many of them don't have cars and they show up to the hospital in taxis, she said.
And there would still be women who would show up at AMH in emergency labor who would have to deliver in the emergency room, McCormick said.
“The community hospital absolutely should be delivering babies,” she said. “We have people in the community who wouldn't have access to these services.”
So when the Berger Commission released its recommendation, Baran, McCormick and other hospital officials worked to reverse the decision. In Cayuga County, 1,600 residents petitioned the Assembly Committee on Health in December 2006 to keep the facility open. Hospital officials gave their case to the state Department of Health last June during a meeting.
Then they waited. McCormick said none of the department's nurses or clinical staff left in wake of the recommendations.
The news came in January that the maternity program would continue.
“The day we got the news, it was like New Year's Eve in here,” Baran said.
The new practice will boast four physicians and three nurses and midwives and a renovated facility. A $274,000 was secured to modernize the department, and $330,000 grant was used for a Hologic Selenia mammography unit.
But despite the physical changes, McCormick said maternity customers will still receive basic obstetric and gynecological services, as well as midwifery.
“We're still looking to offer a quality, comprehensive program,” she said.
Challenges behind, in front of maternity program
When Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology opens Sept. 8, it will feature a number of new doctors and nurses. In order to make that happen, Auburn Memorial Hospital has been recruiting new staff for more than a year.
It is difficult enough to recruit quality personnel in a competitive field. The maternity department's uncertain future did not make recruiting any easier, McCormick said.
And it did not help that at the same time, the hospital was going through Chapter 11 proceedings for bankruptcy protection.
“The biggest challenge was the uncertainty of what was going to happen,” McCormick said. “People were wondering ‘Why should I come here and move my family here?' “
But hospital officials continued to pursue the names they wanted, despite the uncertain future. If obstetrics were to continue at Auburn Memorial, it would “kick off with a bang,” she said.
Marge Tracy was one of the names recruited by the hospital. A registered nurse and a midwife, Tracy has worked in Auburn and Syracuse over the years.
When hospital officials approached her, the instability made her unsure about joining up, she said. But Tracy also had a connection to the institution -- she was born at AMH, and she also gave birth there.
She gave the recruiters a list of things she wanted to see done before she would consider working there. The department needed more doctors. The Berger recommendation had to be overturned.
“They were very persistent, and the enthusiasm wore off,” Tracy said.
But despite the fresh faces, there could be challenges to recruiting another group of people -- patients.
McCormick said the hospital hopes to double its 2007 patient count of approximately 250 by next year. Baran said he thinks it could take a little longer to log those kinds of numbers.
“A couple of years down the road, and we'll be there,” he said.
Tracy said one of the biggest challenges in finding new patients has the same source as the reason for keeping the program in the first place. When a mother gives birth at a hospital, she will stay with it for future children, Tracy said.
And unfortunately, while AMH has continued to deliver babies through its challenges, the public issues have sent some patients to other places like Community General, she said.
“People think (the recommendation) had to do with safety,” Tracy said. “They don't understand that it had nothing to do with that.”
McCormick said one of the best ways for the hospital to build its patient base will be to offer quality care. If you do that, they will come, she said.
And once they start coming, Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology can start considering service expansion, she continued. There are already plans for a new cesarean unit, according to McCormick. And there are hopes for counseling services, support groups and other programs, she said.
“We are expecting that the word is going to get out, and we are going to get extremely busy here,” McCormick said. “All women deserve to be cared for in a high quality manner.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
Babies on board - recent birth rates at Auburn
Memorial Hospital
2008 - 167 through July 31
2007 - 250
2006 - 314
2005 - 415
Meet some of the new faces at Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology:
• Dr. Loren Van Riper earned his MD at the University of Minnesota's medical school, and he completed a residency at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. He is board certified.
• Dr. James W. Alexander earned an MD from the University of Vermont, and he completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester. He is board certified.
• Dr. Mary M. Wilsch earned her MD at State University of New York at Buffalo, and she had an internship and residency at the University of Rochester medical school's Strong Memorial Hospital. She is board certified.
• Dr. Allison M. Loi earned her MD from the University of Rochester and she was a resident physician in the university medical center's OB-GYN department. She is a junior fellow in the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
• Marge M. Tracy, certified nurse and midwife, earned an MS degree in midwifery at SUNY Stonybrook. She is a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives.
A recent history of maternity at AMH
• June 2005 - AMH keeps offering epidurals for its maternity patients after successfully negotiating contract with anesthesiologists.
• November 2006 - The state Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century recommends AMH closes its maternity program.
• December 2006 - More than 1,500 Cayuga County residents sign a petition asking the state Legislature to keep AMH maternity open.
• December 2006 - AMH successfully matches $4.4 million state grant from the Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers.
• January 2007 - Berger Commission recommendations become law.
• April 2007 - AMH declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• June 2007 - AMH officials ask state Department of Health to reconsider maternity closure.
• January 2008 - AMH announces it will keep maternity services.
• July 2008 - U.S. Bankruptcy Court says okay to AMH reorganization plan.
• September 2008 - Auburn Obstetrics and Gynecology to open.
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