Babies will continue to be born at Leamington District Memorial Hospital under a new obstetrics care model.
The Erie-St. Clair LHIN is moving forward on implementing a plan recommended by an expert panel tasked with reviewing birthing services in the area.
The new model calls for a navigation centre allowing patients to access obstetrics services when needed. The board expects to see the final structure of the new model of care in the fall. A cost structure needs to be included as well.
Board chair Martin Girash says the hospital will run a series of simulations. "By doing that if there are any glitches in it, if we have to make some adjustments in terms of the availability of staff," he says. "In order to make sure that when we do go live that it will operate effectively and efficiently."
The board's decision comes after the OB unit at Leamington's hospital was set to close for the end of March, but community pushback saw officials conduct further service reviews.
During all his years in healthcare, Girash says he's never seen a community rally together like this. "Never with this degree of community involvement and intensity," Girash says. "Really it was the community which spoke out so loudly at the first meeting we had way back in the fall, that really has guided us in making sure that every step of the way was carefully taken."
-- with files from Jason Viau.