Departures and retirements from Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville will cause the hospital to temporarily suspend labor and delivery services in mid-August.
Texas Health Stephenville President Christopher Leu said that the hospital plans to reopen labor and delivery, and is currently investing $570,000 to renovate and upgrade the unit. The hospital is also undergoing a $2.65 million renovation to the kitchen and cafe.
The staff shortage is reflective of a larger trend in rural Texas healthcare. A Merritt Hawkins study showed that only one percent of medical residents would prefer to live in communities of less than 10,000 people, and only two percent wanted a community of 25,000 or fewer. Stephenville has a population around 20,000. But there may be hope in international recruitment, as international medical graduates are more likely to prefer smaller communities than American graduates.
According to the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program, Texas has led the nation in hospital closures since 2010, with 14 rural hospitals shuttering in that time.
A 2015 study from the North Texas Regional Extension Center showed that 57 percent of the physicians in the state live in counties with only 44 percent of the states population and that counties with less than 40,000 people are home to nearly nine percent of the state’s population but less than three percent of the state’s physicians. A coordinated effort between the UNT Health Science Center and a college in Midland has created a fast track to medical school to help address the shortage.
“We are actively and aggressively recruiting new physicians to provide obstetrical care for families in Erath County and the surrounding areas and will resume services as soon as we can,” said Leu via release. “Until new obstetricians join the medical staff, we will work closely with patients to help them find appropriate care at another Texas Health hospital if they prefer to deliver their baby at one of our facilities.”
