Hundreds of women whose babies would have been born at the Peru hospital this year have to figure out other plans. Melissa Balma was the obstetrics nurse manager for St. Margaret’s Health Peru. She says the statistics show strong demand for the service: 493 babies born at Peru in 2022 and 47 born at St. Margaret’s Health Spring Valley before its obstetrics service closed and merged with Peru’s. Forty women planned on having babies in Peru this month.
SMP Health decided having one maternity service was more affordable. Even so, St. Sen. Sue Rezin says the hospital was losing $5,000 per delivery. She believes something should have been worked out. She talked about it at a news conference in the Westclox Building this morning. She said there are still many questions and few answers.
Women like Emily Schaub of LaSalle are scrambling to figure out what to do. Schaub is 26 weeks along. The Peru hospital is just 30 seconds from the Peru library where she works. Now the nearest hospital with maternity services is in Ottawa. She can still see the doctor with whom she describes having a great relationship. But that doctor isn’t affiliated with the Ottawa hospital. Schaub doesn’t know where she’ll go for delivery and she says some of her pregnant friends vow not to stay in this area.
St. Rep. Lance Yednock says he’ll keep trying to get the hospital in Peru to reopen, but it won’t be quick.
Sen. Rezin says if the state regulators press ahead at full speed, a new obstetrics ward could be licensed in Spring Valley in two months. But SMP Health hasn’t shown that it wants to to that. It’s advising women to make arrangements at other hospitals.
Emily Schaub told her story of trying to find a hospital to have her baby at. The child is due in late May.
Melissa Balma was the St. Margaret’s Health Peru obstetrics nurse manager. She says 40 women would have had babies at Peru this month.
St. Sen. Sue Rezin’s map of where the obstetrics services are from Peru.