CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — The maternity ward at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista is set to close Sunday, moving its maternity services to its location in Hillcrest. Some expectant mothers tell ABC 10News they've had to change their plans just days before they expect to give birth.
It's tough news for moms-to-be like Heaven Morgan. Her due date is Friday.
"The closure date was so close to my due date, it was like maybe you have the baby there, maybe you won't. Or maybe they won't close it," said Morgan. "It was a being stuck in limbo feeling."
A month ago Morgan's OBGYN told her to choose the Hillcrest hospital, since Chula Vista's maternity ward staff was already shrinking.
"I probably still could have gone to Chula Vista if I wanted to," said Morgan. "But the doctor was very adamant that their bare-bones staff was not cutting it."
Since the baby isn't here yet, Morgan says she may have induced labor on Tuesday. It's the only option Scripps Mercy in Hillcrest gave her.
"It's wild for someone like me who works who's a mom, to have one day like this is when you're gonna get induced. And I'm like, can I change it?" said Morgan. "It's very scary, and knowing the hospital is going through this transition, too. I'm sure they're getting inundated with patients now that this ward is closing."
Still, Morgan is grateful her plans are set. But the toughest part for her is thinking about the South Bay moms who now have to travel further for care.
"It's mind-boggling to me," said Morgan. "Imagine being in labor in the morning, when there's traffic going north. What do you do?"
Scripps Health gave the following statement to ABC 10News:
Today at Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista, we need more beds for adults and seniors who are coming to us for emergency care, surgeries, cardiac care and other services, and we expect that need to continue. To provide much-needed capacity and services for these patients, Scripps Mercy Chula Vista will move its obstetrics care to the Scripps Mercy San Diego hospital campus, effective June 23.
We’re committed to meeting the needs of the South County community now and in the future. Converting the Chula Vista OB space to create more medical-surgical beds and an observation unit is the way we can meet the most pressing needs.
There has been strong teamwork between the staffs at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista and Scripps Mercy San Diego to ensure a smooth transition and continued excellent care for new mothers and their babies.
A spokesperson for Scripps Health included this additional information:
On average, only about half of the beds in the OB unit at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista are in use. By comparison, the hospital’s adult inpatient medical-surgical beds are occupied at or beyond capacity. And the hospital’s 25-bed emergency department is consistently full, with an average of 170 adult patient visits per day. At any given time, we have between six and 12 patients in our Chula Vista ER waiting for 12 hours or more for an inpatient bed to open up for them.
The number of deliveries at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista has been relatively flat over the past 10 years. It’s ranged from approximately 1,500 to 1,800 deliveries per year over that time, with slight fluctuations year by year.
