PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Bon Secours is closing the Family Birth Center at Maryview Medical Center, and the Western Branch OB-GYN next month.
Bon Secours Maryview is the only hospital in Portsmouth where non-military mothers can give birth.
The hospital would not do an on-camera interview to discuss it, but spokeswoman Jennifer Robinson told 10 On Your Side via email, “The decision to close the Family Birth Center and the Western Branch OB-GYN, effective June 21, 2019, is based on the maternity needs of the community as well as insufficient demand.”
Nearly 88 percent of the hospital’s primary service area chooses to deliver their babies at hospitals outside of Portsmouth, resulting in Maryview seeing a low volume of deliveries in recent years, matching the national trend of declining births.
A source told WAVY.com that breaks down to just about 18-30 babies a month born at Maryview.
We asked Western Branch OB-GYN about those women who may be planning to deliver at Maryview after June 21. The office referred us to Robinson.
We are working closely with current patients and their care teams to ease the transition and to ensure they receive the care they need in order to have the best possible birth experience,” she said.
Bon Secours does deliver babies at DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk, and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News.
The closest hospital to Maryview is Sentara Norfolk General. Getting there would require women in Portsmouth to go through the tunnel and pay a toll.
An employee who works on the labor and delivery floor at Maryview also contacted 10 On Your Side with a concern.
She is upset because she says Bon Secours is not paying workers a severance.
Instead, they were offered staff positions at Mary Immaculate in Newport News, which she says is too far. It’s a 45-minute drive for her.
Bon Secours said it is not their policy to discuss personnel issues.