A woman stands in front of a window, holding up a newborn baby and smiling as she looks in his eyes.

Information for Our Community

Labor and delivery services are currently paused at AdventHealth Ottawa. We hope to reopen birth services at AdventHealth Ottawa by as early as summer 2024 and are pursuing a variety of options for inpatient 24/7 birth coverage. Ottawa Family Physicians will be welcome to again provide labor and delivery care when birth services resume at the hospital.

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  • How will this impact labor and delivery services?

    Expecting mothers planning to deliver at AdventHealth Ottawa after Nov. 9 should contact their physician to make alternate delivery plans. Emergent care continues to be available 24/7 at the AdventHealth Ottawa emergency department.

  • Why has it been such a challenge to hire a new physician who can deliver babies?

    We are attempting to recruit physicians who can provide the 24/7/365 continuous coverage necessary to run a maternity unit. We need physicians credentialed in obstetrics and surgery, and they need to live within 20 minutes of our hospital when on call. It is a challenging physician recruitment environment, but our search continues.

  • Will any employees lose their jobs?

    Pausing labor and delivery services in Ottawa will impact 17 RNs who currently staff the Birth Place. They will have the opportunity to pursue positions in other departments in Ottawa and or at AdventHealth South Overland Park and AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. These staff members would be welcomed back to the Birth Place at AdventHealth Ottawa when we resume birth services.

  • When do you anticipate being able to resume labor and delivery services in Ottawa?

    AdventHealth Ottawa is committed to providing high quality labor and delivery care to Franklin County residents and the surrounding region. We have been diligently working to identify a solution, including deliberate efforts to recruit physicians with the necessary training to help provide these services. We hope to reopen birth services by as early as summer 2024 and are pursuing a variety of options for inpatient 24/7 coverage.

  • How many babies are born at AdventHealth Ottawa each year?

    Approximately 130 babies are born at AdventHealth Ottawa each year, which is about 30% of babies born in our area.

  • Why is AdventHealth closing this service?

    Birth is a unique service because it was entirely staffed by our community physician partners. They are not able to continue to provide the 24/7 coverage necessary to operate a birth place, and while they gave us a gracious six-month notice, it was not enough time to secure new physician coverage with the necessary credentials who live within 20 minutes of our hospital. We are grateful for continued partnership to find a solution as we all want to continue providing birth services in our local community.

  • Does the Birth Place temporary closure have anything to do with the hospitalists?

    This announcement is not related to previous changes around our hospitalist program. Hospitalists are physicians who see inpatients for a variety of reasons within the hospital, and physicians who take that role may or may not see patients outside of the hospital setting. This was simply a matter of our community physician partners no longer being able to cover the 24/7 call necessary for us to run a birthing unit, and those physicians have been very supportive through our search for coverage. Some of them have expressed that they would continue to deliver their patients here once we are able to secure the full-time coverage.