Family Maternity Suites at Lincoln
Memorial Hospital to Close
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[November 05, 2022]
Pending approval by the Illinois Health Facilities and
Services Review Board, the Family Maternity Suites at Lincoln Memorial
Hospital will close on Dec. 31, 2022, ending labor and delivery services
at the nonprofit hospital.
“In past decades, there was a major demand for labor and delivery at our
hospital,” said LMH President and CEO Dolan Dalpoas. “Today, that demand
has decreased and our focus has shifted to providing different kinds of
care that better meet the needs of our community.”
For more than 25 years, the number of babies born annually at LMH has
declined steadily to its current low of about two per week. At the same
time, the need for other inpatient services at LMH has risen. During the
past two years, demand for acute care beds has increased 30 percent.
As a critical access hospital, LMH is permitted 25 inpatient beds under
federal law. Three of those beds are currently reserved for labor and
delivery patients – and, Dalpoas said, they are often empty. “By
reallocating those beds to other areas, we can better meet our growing
demand,” he added.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Nov/02/images/ads/current/graue_lda_PPP_2022.png) All members of the unit’s nursing
staff have been offered roles elsewhere at LMH or within another
Memorial Health hospital.
Springfield Clinic physicians Kristen
Green, MD, and Don Sielaff, MD, currently deliver babies at LMH.
They will work with patients who planned to deliver at LMH after
Dec. 31 to choose another hospital.
Dalpoas met in person with LMH employees earlier today to talk about
the factors that went into the decision.
“Throughout our 120-year history, we’ve constantly evolved and
adapted to meet the needs of our patients, and this is the latest
chapter in that story,” he said. “While this was a difficult
decision, it will allow us to focus our resources where the
community needs them the most.”
[ Angie Muhs] |