Alta Vista hospital stops its obstetrical services

Even as Santa Fe is seeing health care services continue to grow, our neighbor across the Sangre de Cristos is experiencing a loss.

Alta Vista Regional Hospital in Las Vegas, N.M., discontinued its obstetrical and delivery services on March 7 and, while it intends to resume delivering babies some day, “this work will take some time,” said Linda Leyba, director of business development/marketing and physician recruitment, in an email.

Last year, that hospital helped deliver some 200 babies.

While driving an hour down Interstate 25 to Santa Fe will be one

of the options for expectant mothers in San Miguel and nearby counties, their destination here will have to be Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. Even if the lack of services in Las Vegas extended into 2018, when Presbyterian Healthcare Services intends to open a new medical center/hospital in Santa Fe, that facility will not have obstetrical services — although such offerings might be considered even further into the future, said Helen Brooks, Santa Fe area administrator for Presbyterian.

Leyba said the reluctant decision to stop delivering babies came from the inability to keep sufficient doctors and nurses on staff to offer round-the-clock coverage. She added that emergency medical care of all sorts will continue to be available at Alta Vista.

“We have tried several approaches to secure doctors and nurses who are available 24/7 for OB and pediatric services, but none have solved the issue over the past year,” Leyba wrote. “New tactics for our OB program are underway, and we are working with our board of trustees, medical staff and community leaders.”

Those possible tactics include:

Working with local officials to “show our city is a great place to live, work and play so we can recruit and keep talent.”

Working with state officials and health care industry groups to strengthen recruitment efforts.

Obtaining a Rural Health Clinic status so the hospital can apply to be a National Health Service Corps site. “This would make our market more attractive by allowing loan repayment for providers in exchange for at least a two-year commitment to stay in Las Vegas,” Leyba explained.

“We understand how important prenatal and obstetrical care is to the community and it is our intention to rebuild the program once the necessary providers for its success are in place,” she wrote. “Once new providers are recruited, it will be important for patients to choose these physicians for their care so the program will be sustainable.”