Greene County Medical Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Thursday to discontinue the obstetrics services at the hospital and the Advanced Women’s Care clinic.

The evaluation came after the May 9th announcement that Dr. David Jaskey was no longer providing services in the obstetrics and gynecology department. Board Chair Jim Schleisman mentioned during their meeting that in the past nine years, the medical center has been through two OB/GYN physicians and they haven’t been successful. We’ve previously reported that in 2015, the OB/GYN department had a net loss of $288,949.

It was also mentioned that to hire another OB/GYN physician, the hospital would have to pay between $40,000 to $70,000 additional salary, compared to what Dr. Jaskey was paid. We also reported that in 2015, there were 43 total births at the medical center, 27 of those were county residents. However, 86 county residents went to another facility to deliver their child.

Chief Executive Officer Carl Behne says by no longer offering OB services, they can concentrate on the department that they do well in.

“We continue in today’s healthcare landscape having to look for smart, efficient and sustainable ways to be that safety net provider for our county and doing the things that we’re good at and should be doing and those things that should maybe be out of our purview of work. Just making sure that we can provide that access channels to patients no matter where they choose to go, whether that’s larger facilities in Fort Dodge, Ames or Des Moines.”

Going forward, the medical center will continue provide gynecology services with Valerie Martin.

The Board is putting together a 60- to 90-day plan to phase out the OB services.