Expecting mothers worry about longer travel times for delivery as OB unit closes in La Junta
Tyler Cunnington
LA JUNTA, Colo. (KRDO) – Some expecting mothers in southeast Colorado will now be traveling an hour or longer to deliver their babies, after the labor and delivery unit at the Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center (AVRMC) in La Junta shut down on April 30.
Hospital leaders tell KRDO13 the closure was not one they wanted to make, but they could no longer ignore the loss of about $200,000 per month from the unit. They explain it’s due to low Medicaid reimbursements, which comprise 70% of the unit’s revenue.
The CEO of AVRMC previously told KRDO13 that “keeping [the unit] open would have brought the whole hospital down.”
A Registered Nurse with AVRMC who has worked with the hospital since 1978, says that in the 1980s they used to have about 400 births per year. However, last year, she says only 110 people delivered babies within the unit.
But doctors from the OB unit tell KRDO13 it wasn’t the lower volume that is the issue, but instead affirmed that low medicaid reimbursements, paired with the high volume of medicaid users in their area, is what made the finances fall into dire straights.
As a result of the shut-down, mothers like Shelby Clarke who live in Campo, just south of Springfield, says she’ll now travel multiple hours to Pueblo for her next birth. She is due in August for her second baby.
“What happens when my water breaks and if the, if it moves fast, like you don’t have that much time.” Clarke stated. “It is extremely unsafe having to go that far while in active labor.”
Clarke is not alone, as families near La Junta will now have to drive roughly 60 miles, or more, to Lamar or Pueblo, in order to deliver with doctors and nurses at a hospital, who specialize in labor and delivery.
Prowers Medical Center officials tell KRDO13 they’ve accepted 27 new mothers over the last few months, ahead of the closure in La Junta. They stated that they are taking in any new patients for OB services, as well as deliveries.
Clarke’s first baby boy, came through an emergency C-section, that nearly proved fatal.
“I tore internally and began to hemorrhage. At the time, it came down to choosing between him and I.”
It’s those kinds of situations that scared her as a first time mother, and it’s what worries the former director of the OB floor in La Junta, that may happen more often moving forward.
“It’s very scary. There’s no way around it in some of those emergencies. There’s no other choice.” said Diane McElroy, the former director.
She’s also concerned that more mild, but crucial, medical issues for mothers may be missed, just because of the longer drives for a simple appointment.
“That’s a lot of worry to go 60 miles to just know [a diagnosis]. I’m afraid people won’t go because it’s such a trek” she said, about the additional distance to get to either hospital.
Meanwhile, Clarke says she has been going to a hospital in Pueblo four times per month since January, in preparation for the closure in La Junta. It’s about a seven hour round trip for her and her husband, and it’s likely the where she’ll have to deliver her second-born child.
“Lamar is far enough to have to go at an hour and a half. La Junta, pushing an additional two and a half hours is dangerous. But three to get to your nearest hospital that can deliver, being Pueblo, that is not right. It’s not safe. It is unethical. It’s illogical.” stated Clarke, who says she is not a unique situation, as far as mothers in more remote areas like she is.
Clarke says the reasons he has to go to Pueblo and cannot go to Lamar, is due to the fact that Prowers Medical Center in Lamar won’t accept her for a delivery, as she wants to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarian), which can pose risks during the delivery of the child.
Prowers Medical Center leadership say that is an existing policy that is not new, due to the closure of AVRMC.
In regards to the closure, the Mayor of La Junta, Joe Ayala, told KRDO13 in a statement in part:
“I want to express just how deeply troubling this development is not just for our city, but for families across the entire region.
The loss of maternity services means women in the Arkansas Valley will now be forced to travel hours to deliver their babies. This is not just inconvenient, it’s dangerous. As I mentioned it’s a trip through mostly a two lane highway and that’s a tough drive for any expectant mother in good weather what if we are facing inclement weather? And it signals a devastating trend for rural Colorado.”