A timeline for the return of the labor and delivery services department at Brooks-TLC Hospital System in Dunkirk remains uncertain at this point. Providers and pediatricians who work with that department, which suspended operations Oct. 4, continue to tell expecting parents and mothers to make plans with a Buffalo hospital.

As it stands today, only one Chautauqua County hospital is handling labor and delivery services — that is UPMC Chautauqua in Jamestown. Brooks-TLC closed its obstetrics department due to what it called “staffing challenges with national nursing shortages.” The plan to suspend operations was approved by Brooks-TLC with oversight by Kaleida Health and the state Department of Health.

“It is the hospital’s intention to continue to recruit and fill vacant positions that would allow us to reopen labor and delivery services in anticipation of pandemic recovery,” said Mary LaRowe, chief executive officer at Brooks-TLC. “We have a revised, ambitious recruitment plan to attract local nursing candidates, incentivize others from outside the immediate service area, and appeal to those contemplating a career in a rural hospital with professional growth potential.”

While the department’s closure is being referred to as “temporary,” there are major concerns regarding the viability health-care insititutions, especially those in rural areas. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, smaller centers were running million-dollar deficits.

Kaleida Health, which has been working with Brooks-TLC since 2016 and is based in Buffalo, reported losses of more than $100 million in 2020. Finances for Brooks, however, are not readily available though the institution reported fiscal losses of more than $18 million from 2016 to 2019, according to the annual Internal Revenue Service 990 forms.

Despite the department’s suspension, on-call providers and pediatricians remain available for consultations and to support emergency deliveries. The plan includes the post-delivery transfer to the Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo or facility of their choice for post-partum recovery.

“At the present time, we have no definitive time-line for reopening the labor and delivery unit due to the ongoing challenges which led to the reduction in labor and delivery services last October,” said Julie Morton, chief nursing officer at Brooks-TLC. “Our recruitment campaign is newly launched, but until we increase OB personnel, we will need to continue to operate under the contingency plan and work with providers and partners to support OB and gynecological services. I remain hopeful that our recruitment efforts will achieve the results we desire so that we can continue to serve the community as we have in the past.”

Westfield Memorial Hospital discontinued its labor and delivery department shortly after the Berger Commission report in 2006 that aimed to reduce beds statewide and led to a number of hospital closings.

Most recent state Health Department numbers noted Brooks-TLC had 395 births with UPMC Chautauqua having 650.