Women's Services

Obstetrics / Maternity Services

The Chester River Hospital's Obstetrical Unit will close on April 1, 2012. I recognize that this is a sad and emotional time for many employees and members of our community. This difficult decision was a response to the announcement that Anthony Moorman, M.D. made in February, that his practice will cease delivering babies at CRHC effective March 31, 2012 and start delivering at Anne Arundel Medical Center. Dr. Moorman & Associates is the only practicing OB/GYN located in Kent County.

Without an obstetrics practice located in Kent County committed to delivering babies at Chester River Hospital Center, the hospital is not able to maintain an obstetrics unit. Closing the obstetrics unit is really the only option at this time, considering it takes on average, 12 to 18 months to recruit an obstetrician to a rural area like Kent County, and CRHC would need to recruit at least two obstetricians to make the service workable. Additionally, since Dr. Moorman & Associates intends to continue providing prenatal and postnatal care to the Kent County community from their Chestertown office, establishing a second, competing obstetrics group would not be practical, since the county's population cannot support four OB physicians. CRHC has the lowest number of births of any hospital in Maryland—186 babies were delivered in 2011.

In accordance with the provisions of the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC), a formal, public informational hearing was held on March 12, 2012, at which time a PowerPoint presentation was shared with the audience. The presentation covered the reasons why Chester River Hospital Center's OB Unit was closing, as well as other relevant information. At the conclusion of the presentation, audience members asked questions and made comments. If you would like to view the presentation, it is on the homepage of the Chester River Health System's website.

On behalf of Chester River Health System, I want to extend a big "thank you" to the entire OB Unit Team for providing outstanding care and service to our community. Chester River's OB nurses and team members have always received compliments for their quality of care. You made our patients feel like they were family and at home here at our hospital.

Sincerely,

James E. Ross, President & CEO

To view the PowerPoint presentation, please click here.