![Elyria is in Lorain County, and about 15 miles from UH St. John Medical Center in Westlake where birthing services are moving. [SevenMaps / Shutterstock]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6b60316/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/840x560!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F7%2F27%2FUH%20Elyria%20consolidation.jpg)
University Hospitals is consolidating, and its Elyria hospital will no longer offer labor and delivery services.
The hospital system is moving birthing services from UH Elyria hospital to UH St. John Medical Center in Westlake, which is about 25 minutes away.
The consolidation is not about saving money for the hospital, said UH Elyria Hospital President Kristi Sink.
“This is really based in quality,” she said. “What Elyria’s experiencing on the OB (obstetrics) side is our volumes are declining. We expect that trend to continue, and as volumes get lower, it gets harder and harder to maintain competency because you’re just not doing as much of that particular service.”
If women don’t have reliable transportation to the Westlake hospital, they can work with their physician, and UH will help find transportation, Sink said.
The hospital will still provide pre- and post-natal care, but no delivery, she said.
“From my perspective what this means for our Elyria population is that we are continuing our commitment to women and children in this community,” she said.
The hospital system is also changing services for heart patients in Westlake.
UH Elyria will take over heart surgery for UH St. John. The consolidations will help University Hospitals provide better care, Sink said.
No jobs should be lost in this consolidation of service because the hospital system has open positions for registered nurses in other facilities, she said.
The transition will take place on November 1, which will give women time to create a new delivery plan, Sink said.
