ST. FRANCIS CONSIDERS OFFERING OBSTETRICS SERVICES ONCE AGAIN

St. Francis Medical Center is investigating the feasibility of adding obstetrics to its hospital services, said Kim Groves, a hospital spokesperson.

The medical center's strategic planning committee has identified the need to make St. Francis a full-service hospital, said Groves. To that end, St. Francis is studying the feasibility of adding obstetrics and expanding its heart institute.

She said the strategic planning process included interviews with physicians, board members, community leaders and employees, and conducting a data analysis.

St. Francis delivered babies and offered other obstetric services from 1925 to 1966. When maternity service was discontinued, the reason given was that obstetrics beds were not always filled at either St. Francis or Southeast Missouri Hospital and that the administration felt one of the hospitals could accommodate all of the maternity cases.

Officials at Southeast Missouri Hospital, which has been the lone hospital delivering babies in Cape Girardeau since 1966, had no comment on the feasibility study.

Southeast did provide statistics that in 1999 there were about 1,600 babies delivered in its maternity ward and that the 28-bed unit had an average occupancy of 30 percent.

Judy Thrower, president of the Southeast Missouri Business Group on Health, said if St. Francis feels the time is right to consider adding obstetrics, that group will not object.

The Business Group on Health opposed the merger of St. Francis and Southeast that was proposed in 1998 on grounds that the merger would stifle competition, Thrower said.

"We could see that this might increase competition," she said.

Local obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Jonathon Thomas said if St. Francis does open an obstetrics ward he would support it. But he expressed concern over whether Cape Girardeau can support obstetrics wards at two hospitals.

He pointed out that one obstetrician recently began delivering babies at the hospital in Perryville and there are now four OB-GYNs doing deliveries in Sikeston. So he sees fewer patients coming from those areas.

Also, he said the number of deliveries has remained fairly stable in the last 10 years, ranging from 1,400 to 1,600 in those years. He said there are now more obstetricians in Cape Girardeau than 10 years ago, but that has not meant a significant increase in deliveries.

Another concern, Thomas said, is having enough trained labor and delivery nurses to staff two obstetrics units.

Still, Thomas said, other cities about the size of Cape Girardeau have obstetrics wards at competing hospitals, including Joplin.

In some cities with maternity units at two hospitals, OB-GYNs will practice at one hospital or the other, Thomas said. He gave Springfield as an example.

Thomas doesn't think that would happen in Cape Girardeau, though. Now he and other OB-GYNs will operate on patients at either hospital, leaving it to the patient's preference. He expects that would continue if St. Francis decides to add obstetrics.

"As close as the hospitals are, I don't see there being a problem with handling deliveries at both places," he said.

If the St. Francis board of directors decides it wants to add obstetrics, the hospital likely would have to apply for a certificate of need from the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee, Groves said. The committee of legislators and governor appointees reviews projects that would cost more than $1 million and would have a significant impact on health care, said Thomas R. Piper, director of the Missouri Certificate of Need program.

Piper said in reviewing projects the committee looks at three areas: Whether there is a need for the service based on population and the occupancy rates of other providers of the service; financial feasibility; and whether this is the best, most cost-effective way of providing the service.

Groves said it is too early in the planning stages to offer any kind of time table for when the feasibility study for adding obstetrics at St. Francis will be completed.