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Jasper County is losing its only birthing practice. A county of 37,000 is losing their Ob/Gyns

lucas80

lucas80

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This is the future of Iowa, I'm only slightly surprised it was a county as big as Jasper, and a city like Newton that went so fast. We have seen other smaller cities and counties lose their practicing lady parts doctors, but it is clear that Iowa is becoming a health care desert for reproductive services. This isn't abortion care that is leaving Jasper County, this is basic, fundamental reproductive care that will now require an extra 30-45 minutes in the car to receive. Precious minutes many women might not have.
https://www.weareiowa.com/article/n...ayer/524-cfdb1148-c500-45f1-aa3f-f77f29561426
 
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lucas80 said:
This is the future of Iowa, I'm only slightly surprised it was a county as big as Jasper, and a city like Newton that went so fast. We have seen other smaller cities and counties lose their practicing lady parts doctors, but it is clear that Iowa is becoming a health care desert for reproductive services. This isn't abortion care that is leaving Jasper County, this is basic, fundamental reproductive care that will now require an extra 30-45 minutes in the car to receive. Precious minutes many women might not have.
https://www.weareiowa.com/article/n...ayer/524-cfdb1148-c500-45f1-aa3f-f77f29561426
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In any decent sized city you drive 20-40 minutes if you are in the burbs. DM is an easy drive from Newton. Not a big deal imho.
 
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LDR units are basically loss leaders for most hospitals. I saw an article that said 40% of rural hospitals lose money on obstetrics.

Really two ways to make up for it is a favorable payer mix and volume. Several hospitals in our area have consolidated their OB units into centralized areas.

Flagler County, Florida has two Advent hospitals and neither have an LDR unit. They ship them to Daytona. That county has about 130,000 people.
 
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Capital1Hawk said:
In any decent sized city you drive 20-40 minutes if you are in the burbs. DM is an easy drive from Newton. Not a big deal imho.
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What happens when Ob/Gyns start leaving Des Moines? I suspect you'd say differently about a 40 minute drive in an emergency.
Iowa is turning into a health care desert. Anecdotally Mrs. Lucas told me UIHC isn't getting the robust level of inquiries as they have in the past years for residents in the field.
 
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I love how for men it's no big deal that women do not have adequate access to reproductive health care in Iowa, and that it isn't a troubling trend for the economic/social future.
 
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Capital1Hawk said:
In any decent sized city you drive 20-40 minutes if you are in the burbs. DM is an easy drive from Newton. Not a big deal imho.
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If you're the demographics of what I assume to be the majority of the board: white male, middle-class, middle-aged or older, I'm sure it's easy to "not big deal" this. Not something I have to worry about! Who cares!
 
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TexSkills said:
LDR units are basically loss leaders for most hospitals. I saw an article that said 40% of rural hospitals lose money on obstetrics.

Really two ways to make up for it is a favorable payer mix and volume. Several hospitals in our area have consolidated their OB units into centralized areas.

Flagler County, Florida has two Advent hospitals and neither have an LDR unit. They ship them to Daytona. That county has about 130,000 people.
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It’s not just a payer problem. The insurance costs are nuts. You have to really want to do obstetrics, because the financial incentives aren’t great.
 
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As someone who's daughter and daughter in law both live in Newton and have (soon to be had) their OB/GYN in Newton, this sucks on many levels.

For whoever said "It's only a 40 min drive"...no, it's 1 1/2 hours, just driving. It's also that much extra in sick leave or unpaid leave time. It's also 80 miles worth of gas. All of which was unexpected.

It's one thing to move to an area knowing you have to drive somewhere else for services. It's a completely different situation when you move somewhere that has the services and they are taken away.
 
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SSG T said:
As someone who's daughter and daughter in law both live in Newton and have (soon to be had) their OB/GYN in Newton, this sucks on many levels.

For whoever said "It's only a 40 min drive"...no, it's 1 1/2 hours, just driving. It's also that much extra in sick leave or unpaid leave time. It's also 80 miles worth of gas. All of which was unexpected.

It's one thing to move to an area knowing you have to drive somewhere else for services. It's a completely different situation when you move somewhere that has the services and they are taken away.
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1.5 hours if you're going 40 miles an hour. However, that is bullshit that Newton won't have that service. It's 80 miles round trip.
 
It has been happening for some time. I believe Cherokee stopped delivering babies 10 or 15 years ago.
 
Kelsers said:
1.5 hours if you're going 40 miles an hour. However, that is bullshit that Newton won't have that service. It's 80 miles round trip.
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Yeah, 40-45 minutes to DSM, 40-45 minutes back. That's 1 1/2 hours
 
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People aren’t going into OB residency because the job is horrible. Their call is horrendous and often the partners don’t get along. In pretty much all areas of medicine people are trending towards lifestyle jobs over money or type of work. OB is definitely not a good lifestyle job. I’m not saying there isn’t some decreased level of interest based on reproductive rights in the state of Iowa but it’s definitely more than that. OB docs are in short supply everywhere. You’re seeing a lot more midwives around to fill the gaps, same as mid levels in all areas of medicine.

Also, it’s very expensive to keep labor and delivery units open in hospitals. You need 24/7 c section coverage (which midwives cannot do). In some places this means a general surgeon is doing the section instead of an obstetrician. Most general surgeons aren’t up to speed on c sections although they are likely capable. Then you need 24/7 anesthesia coverage. That’s definitely not cheap and there is a major shortage of anesthesia providers in the entire country. Then you need to staff the labor and delivery unit with nurses which can also be tough to find qualified OB nurses. The ebb and flow of labor patients is difficult to predict so staffing the nursing units are a challenge.

There is a lot more than reproductive rights in the state of Iowa that is closing down labor and delivery units. It may be playing a role but there are larger factors.
 
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lucas80 said:
This is the future of Iowa, I'm only slightly surprised it was a county as big as Jasper, and a city like Newton that went so fast. We have seen other smaller cities and counties lose their practicing lady parts doctors, but it is clear that Iowa is becoming a health care desert for reproductive services. This isn't abortion care that is leaving Jasper County, this is basic, fundamental reproductive care that will now require an extra 30-45 minutes in the car to receive. Precious minutes many women might not have.
https://www.weareiowa.com/article/n...ayer/524-cfdb1148-c500-45f1-aa3f-f77f29561426
Click to expand...
Suggest you loons read the article.
Lots of factors in play including one of the worst unions ever - the ama.
 
lucas80 said:
This is the future of Iowa, I'm only slightly surprised it was a county as big as Jasper, and a city like Newton that went so fast. We have seen other smaller cities and counties lose their practicing lady parts doctors, but it is clear that Iowa is becoming a health care desert for reproductive services. This isn't abortion care that is leaving Jasper County, this is basic, fundamental reproductive care that will now require an extra 30-45 minutes in the car to receive. Precious minutes many women might not have.
https://www.weareiowa.com/article/n...ayer/524-cfdb1148-c500-45f1-aa3f-f77f29561426
Click to expand...
Thank your ACA!
 
mnole03 said:
It’s not just a payer problem. The insurance costs are nuts. You have to really want to do obstetrics, because the financial incentives aren’t great.
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True. You're also seeing private equity drive up the costs to hospitals. Almost all hospitals have to outsource OB. None of the docs are employed physicians.
 
This is devastating for Newton. My longtime doctor retired in May and he said many of the young doctors won’t do deliveries and nursing homes and senior care and hospice. They do not want middle of the night calls. He delivered so many babies and kept the nursing home and hospice gigs after retirement.
 
mnole03 said:
It’s not just a payer problem. The insurance costs are nuts. You have to really want to do obstetrics, because the financial incentives aren’t great.
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Um, my daughter is in residency and is hoping to end up in OBGYN. Her mentor makes over 400k.
 
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