TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — On Monday, Feb. 13, the Northwest Medical Center Houghton will close its OBGYN center after opening June 2022.
In a letter to patients, the Vice President of Northwest says they made the move because of low patient demand and hospital employees resigning.
While the letter didn't say the reason behind the resignations, it instructed patients that deliveries will be performed at the Northwest Women's Center located off Rudasill. The other location is about 22 miles and about a 40 minute drive away from the Northwest Houghton birthing center.
KGUN 9 on your side reached out to officials at Northwest to see why the unit was closing. They responded with the following statement:
"Northwest Medical Center Houghton has received a warm welcome from the community. Patients are choosing the hospital for emergency care, surgeries, outpatient services and other needed healthcare, and the hospital is growing to meet community needs.
Despite our overall success, this is a challenging time for all providers and recent physician resignations and difficulties recruiting specialty staff have led us to suspend childbirth and NICU services, effective February 13, 2023. The hospital will continue to offer robust women's healthcare services, including gynecological care, gynecological surgery, urogynecology, mammography, and more in response to patient demand.
Patients who are pregnant and have established care with one of the physicians at Northwest OB/GYN Houghton may choose to continue to see Jessica Serrano-Rodriguez, MD, for routine prenatal care until their 37th week of pregnancy. At 37 weeks, care will be transitioned to Nazneen Shaikh, DO, or Carol Dehasse, MD, both OB/GYNs at Northwest Medical Center. All deliveries after February 13 will be performed at Northwest Women's Center on the Northwest Medical Center campus, located at 1920 W. Rudasill Rd. in northwest Tucson.
Patients experiencing a medical emergency, obstetrics-related or otherwise, can be treated in the Northwest Medical Center Houghton emergency room by our experienced team of providers. We are working directly with patients to ensure that their transition of care is as smooth as possible."
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Denelle Veselik is an anchor and investigative reporter for KGUN 9. It's been her dream to tell your stories for the past decade. She is extremely curious and wants to continue to use her storytelling for the greater good. Share your story ideas and important issues with Denelle by emailing denelle.veselik@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram and X/Twitter.
