OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, will reopen its birthing center in September 2023 to again provide obstetrics care for residents in the Vermilion County area. The center closed in October 2022 due to the lack of obstetric providers in the area.
“Our team is pleased to announce this return to the community,” said Ned Hill, president, OSF Sacred Heart. “We are committed to providing exceptional patient care and know the challenges our young families have experienced throughout the last few months. We are so appreciative of their patience with us.”
While the birthing unit at OSF Sacred Heart will reopen in September, outpatient prenatal care, post-partum care, general women’s health and pediatric services will continue at OSF Sacred Heart and OSF Medical Group in Danville.
“Similar to the rest of the country, staffing has been our biggest challenge. Until we were able to ensure each mother, child and family who needed us was able to have our undivided attention and a care plan that is customized to their precise wishes, we needed to transfer care to Urbana,” said Hill. “Now that we have new providers and a plan to care for our youngest patients and their parents, we are ready to resume services for obstetrics and newborn care in Danville.”
In addition, more digital tools will now be used in Danville supplement in-person care.
OSF HealthCare will offer a hybrid model of in-person visits and digital tools for women who prefer to take advantage of some virtual offerings, whether to help busy patients with scheduling conflicts or transportation concerns. For example, OSF could offer a virtual visit for every other visit throughout a healthy pregnancy.
“We want to be where our patients need us, and OSF HealthCare is committed to offering digital services to supplement our in-person care,” Hill said. “Our remote patient monitoring program for prenatal and postpartum care is available to complement your visits to a doctor’s office, with on-demand learning based on where a woman is in her pregnancy.”
In addition, OSF lactation experts offer virtual lactation assistance to any woman, regardless of geographic location.
As a part of this reopening at OSF Sacred Heart, OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center in Urbana, Illinois, will soon submit applications with the appropriate state and regulatory approvals to discontinue obstetrical care.
This decision was based on a number of factors, including access to care, travel time to hospitals and vulnerable populations. These factors combined with staffing challenges and the ability to recruit led to this decision.
The Blessed Beginnings Birthing Center at OSF Heart of Mary will transition all labor and delivery care to either OSF Sacred Heart in Danville or OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, Illinois. This transition will also take place in September, although the exact timing is yet to be determined.
After September 2023, patients who are currently patients of OSF Medical Group – Obstetrics and Gynecology in Urbana will be referred to OSF Medical Group - Primary Care in Champaign, Illinois, or our Danville OB/GYN location.
OSF HealthCare will continue its commitment to overall women’s health through a variety of services including, but not limited to, regular well-woman annual visits, mammograms and general gynecology services, as well as bone density and wellness screenings at OSF Medical Group – Primary Care offices in the Champaign area.
For more information on the birthing center at OSF Sacred Heart, please call 217-443-5000. If patients have other questions, OSF Medical Group teams are available: 217-337-2010 (Champaign-Urbana) or 217-477-4718 (Danville).