Midwives fired
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A popular group of midwives and family medicine doctors who delivered babies at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park for at least 20 years have filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Public Health over their sudden departure.
Friday was the last day more than 40 midwives and family medicine physicians at PCC Community Wellness Center on the West Side were allowed to deliver, a move that has outraged several West Side politicians, patients and community advocates. West Suburban and these providers have become a destination for pregnant people who want a more holistic birth with little medical intervention. PCC mostly treats low-income Black and Latino patients on the West Side, but women from across the region have sought out PCC’s midwifery care.
West Suburban CEO Dr. Manoj Prasad has told PCC that securing professional liability insurance “will be severely limited or likely impossible” if the current labor and delivery practices continue. Only residency-trained OB-GYN physicians would have delivery privileges.
In the complaint obtained by WBEZ, PCC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Luning alleges that West Suburban has violated the Illinois Licensing Act. Luning also is president of the West Suburban medical staff, and in the letter, he said members have a right to request a fair hearing.
He alleged Prasad did not give the required 15 days notice — PCC received 11 days — for a decision about privileges that’s “based substantially on economic factors,” nor has Prasad let the medical staff “inspect all pertinent information in the hospital’s possession with respect to the decision.” Luning requested a copy of information that Prasad received from insurance brokers to support his claims about the difficulty in obtaining malpractice insurance.
“We’ve never seen any evidence of this,” Alyssa Sianghio, CEO of PCC, said in an interview. “We’ve also asked to say, can we work with your malpractice insurance?”
Luning asked to delay the decision to cut ties with PCC until Dec. 31 to help patients navigate what’s next.
Fitzpatrick said in the past decade, West Suburban has paid out more than $126 million in claims against the OB-GYN department under PCC’s leadership. Only one insurance carrier was willing to consider insuring the hospital and only would do so if OBs managed all labor and delivery, Fitzpatrick said.
Sianghio said she has no knowledge of what claims the hospital has paid over time, and no way to know what kind of providers they were for. PCC has their own medical malpractice insurance. Research shows midwives tend to have low C-section rates and better outcomes for both parent and child, but West Suburban is the latest hospital across the Chicago area to cut back on offering this type of care, or not invest in it at all.
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A popular group of midwives and family medicine doctors who delivered babies at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park for at least 20 years have filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Public Health over their sudden departure.
Friday was the last day more than 40 midwives and family medicine physicians at PCC Community Wellness Center on the West Side were allowed to deliver, a move that has outraged several West Side politicians, patients and community advocates. West Suburban and these providers have become a destination for pregnant people who want a more holistic birth with little medical intervention. PCC mostly treats low-income Black and Latino patients on the West Side, but women from across the region have sought out PCC’s midwifery care.
West Suburban CEO Dr. Manoj Prasad has told PCC that securing professional liability insurance “will be severely limited or likely impossible” if the current labor and delivery practices continue. Only residency-trained OB-GYN physicians would have delivery privileges.
In the complaint obtained by WBEZ, PCC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Luning alleges that West Suburban has violated the Illinois Licensing Act. Luning also is president of the West Suburban medical staff, and in the letter, he said members have a right to request a fair hearing.
He alleged Prasad did not give the required 15 days notice — PCC received 11 days — for a decision about privileges that’s “based substantially on economic factors,” nor has Prasad let the medical staff “inspect all pertinent information in the hospital’s possession with respect to the decision.” Luning requested a copy of information that Prasad received from insurance brokers to support his claims about the difficulty in obtaining malpractice insurance.
“We’ve never seen any evidence of this,” Alyssa Sianghio, CEO of PCC, said in an interview. “We’ve also asked to say, can we work with your malpractice insurance?”
Luning asked to delay the decision to cut ties with PCC until Dec. 31 to help patients navigate what’s next.
Fitzpatrick said in the past decade, West Suburban has paid out more than $126 million in claims against the OB-GYN department under PCC’s leadership. Only one insurance carrier was willing to consider insuring the hospital and only would do so if OBs managed all labor and delivery, Fitzpatrick said.
Sianghio said she has no knowledge of what claims the hospital has paid over time, and no way to know what kind of providers they were for. PCC has their own medical malpractice insurance. Research shows midwives tend to have low C-section rates and better outcomes for both parent and child, but West Suburban is the latest hospital across the Chicago area to cut back on offering this type of care, or not invest in it at all.
@George-K You probably know more about this than anybody here. Which sides seems to be telling more of the truth?
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If it's more than one hospital, the insurance stuff is probably true.
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@Jolly said in Midwives fired:
If it's more than one hospital, the insurance stuff is probably true.
The problem with some midwives is that they don't know what they don't know. I've read, and posted, several stories of home births gone wrong when the midwife was up to her elbows in meconium before calling for help.
THere are reason that OB has among the highest malpractice premiums. Among them is the fact that for childbirth injuries, there's no real statute of limitations- so the parent of a 15 year old can sue, claiming birth injury because junior didn't get into Harvard.
There's no reason a midwife should be practicing solo without the backup of an obstetrician ON SITE. We had one guy who would offer backup to a midwife - but from home (he was 10 min away). He eventually gave that up, and the midwife left.
Ask yourself, if you were the insurer, would you insure a midwife for a $5,000 premium? Potential payouts can go to millions. I wouldn't.
By the way, all four of my kids were born at that hospital. Delivered by a real OB.
