Clark Fork Valley Hospital no longer delivering babies
Casen Lawrence Kirkland was born at 8:28 p.m. on Jan. 24 at Clark Fork Valley Hospital to parents Chelsea and Thomas Kirkland. (Carolyn Hidy/Clark Fork Valley Press)
Citing mounting challenges in staffing, training and patient numbers, Clark Fork Valley Hospital is discontinuing its delivering of babies effective Jan. 1, 2024.
In a press release, hospital CEO Dr. Greg Hanson described it as a perfect storm of challenges.
“First, deliveries have steadily declined over the past 10 years, then it has become increasingly difficult to recruit sufficient skilled medical personnel to provide obstetrical care with round the clock coverage and finally the delivery volumes did not provide the ongoing experience necessary to keep staff fully trained in this challenging area of healthcare.”
The facility will continue to provide maternal health services to patients until other care can be arranged and has partnered with two obstetrical physicians and their hospitals to allow some prenatal care at Plains so mothers-to-be won’t consistently have to travel for all their appointments.
Hanson noted that the challenges facing the hospital are not unique to the rural health care industry.
“Delivery services are being cut from many rural hospitals across the country,” he said.
The American Hospital Association reports that there were at least 89 obstetrical unit closures in rural hospitals between 2015 and 2019. More have shuttered since. Out of 1,976 rural hospitals across the United States, 1,045 have never offered hospital based OB services.
Clark Fork Valley Hospital board Chair Erin McCarthy said in 2022, the local hospital delivered only 18 babies.
“It was a very difficult decision to make and CFVH has tried to overcome these challenges, but the ongoing decrease in volume has made it impossible to responsibly do so.”
The hospital will continue to provide other women’s health services like Pap smears, annual exams, gynecological care and the full range of family medicine including child exams, physicals, behavioral health services and urgent care.
“We will continue to embrace our team care approach,” said Hanson. “It’s an unfortunate event for the hospital which prides itself in providing comprehensive professional health care services to all residents of Sanders County and surrounding areas. And we want to thank all those who have trusted CFVH with their obstetrical care over the years and we look forward to continuing to provide quality family medicine services to all that request it.”