After decades of delivering Reno's babies, Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center is closing its Maternal Child Health Program, effective immediately.
Now, all current and future patients have to transfer somewhere else. It'll have a big impact on Northern Nevada's medical community, and for the families planning to deliver there, including one local mom, who says she's heartbroken.
"They did so much for me that I could never repay, and they have become family," local mom Vanessa Lippert says of the staff at Saint Mary's.
Lippert spent a lot of time there: admitted for six weeks during her pregnancy, and then for three months after with her infant son in the NICU. Without regular family visits during the pandemic, the staff stepped in.
"The nurses, charge nurses, the doctors there, the entire staff. Even the cleaning ladies," Lippert said. "We weren't just patients. My son wasn't just a name on a piece of paper. Those doctors and those nurses and that entire staff treated me and my son like their own."
So when she heard the news that no more babies will be born at St. Mary's, Lippert was shocked.
"I changed my O.B.s just so I could stay at Saint Mary's, because my heart and my family is there. I wouldn't trust anyone but those nurses and that staff to take care of not only myself, but my children, my future children."
And she wasn't the only one surprised.
Northern Nevada's other regional hospitals-- like Renown-- got the call from Saint Mary's the day they announced the closure to their staff.
"The first thing I did was, i went to my capacity board to see how we were going to be able to handle things," Renown Women and Children's Hospital Administrator Larry Duncan said, "and fortunately, we had capacity, so that was not a problem."
Duncan says five NICU babies are in the process of transferring from Saint Mary's to Renown this week. He says the process has been smooth and orderly. Renown is actually already in the process of expanding its NICU. It's adding 11 beds, which should be finished this coming summer.
Until then, it might be a bit of a crunch.
"From a neonatal intensive care unit perspective, there will be a little bit of worry until we open in June," Duncan said. "Will we need to overflow the patients? We have plans and systems to do that if we need to."
Duncan says Renown delivers about 4,500 babies a year, and hasn't seen the numbers drop, even during the pandemic. Saint Mary's cited a lower birth rate, and staffing shortages as reasons for the closure. Duncan says Renown hasn't seen the same issues.
They want expecting families to know that they'll make room for anyone who needs it.
"We are very busy, but we do have capacity," Duncan said, "and we are able to take care of those patients as well."
2News did ask Saint Mary's for additional comment about the closure, but haven't heard back.
In the meantime, Renown says any families who were planning to deliver at Saint Mary's should reach out to their doctors to make a new plan.
