As Kimball Medical Center prepares for the anticipated closure of its obstetrical unit and newborn nursery, obstetric deliveries are being transitioned from Kimball to other Barnabas Health facilities.
The unit was expected to shut on May 1, as first reported on TLS in January, but is actually being shut a bit ahead of schedule.
KMC says they are working to place the impacted employees in other potions throughout the Barnabas network.
“Kimball Medical Center has worked closely with Community and Monmouth Medical Centers to identify positions at other Barnabas Health facilities for impacted employees,” Spokesman John Brand tells TLS. “As we continue to provide access to high quality care in communities served by Barnabas Health facilities, our top priority remains patient care.”
Brand added, “To that end, we are proud of our efforts to retain as many of the high caliber nurses, physicians and staff of Kimball Medical Center as possible.”
In January, Barnabas Health announced its plans to merge Kimball Medical Center in Lakewood with Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch to create an integrated, regionalized, two-campus partnership. As such, Kimball Medical Center will be renamed Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus.
Currently, only 16 percent of Lakewood babies are delivered annually at Kimball Medical Center, while more than 50 percent of Lakewood babies are delivered at Monmouth Medical Center. Monmouth Medical Center is home to a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, delivers nearly 5,000 babies each year, and has recently renovated and expanded its postpartum unit and newborn nursery.
These facilities which will absorb the former KMC deliveries include Monmouth Medical Center, and Community Medical Center, a trusted provider of maternal child services with a special care nursery, Brand says.
[TLS]
This is the dumbest move the hospital has done since the day they opened.
Lakewood is a growing community with hundreds of babies being born each year ka”h.
For the local hospital to close it’s obstetrics unit, is both dumb and insane.
This is a massive mistake, and I’m sure they’ll realize it in a few years – and by then it’ll be very costly for them to restart the whole department.
#BadDecisionMaking
Instead of improving the obstetrical unit and attracting the growing amount of newborns in Lakewood, they decided to close down the unit. Sounds like a wise business decision to me.
Kimballs nurses were EXCELLENT
Please let us know which hospital they transfer to so we can go there instead.
Why couldn’t they try to win over the community with improving the obstetrics unit, instead of losing Dr Feinberg, and/or hiring more experts like him – Now there is no emergency place to go if you need a baby delivered immediately, yom tov/Shabbos convenience – the midwives were great, but needed the backup of the hospital – seems like such a BAD decision
“Currently, only 16 percent of Lakewood babies are delivered annually at Kimball Medical Center, while more than 50 percent of Lakewood babies are delivered at Monmouth Medical Center”
What about jersey shore hospital? how many babies are delivered there each year? whats the percentage from lakewoos?
Brick hospital (ocranedical center) is only 15 minutes away. They are amazing!! I had my baby in the car and hatzala brought me to brick. They were amazing . For my other kids I used Monmouth but was still very satisfied with brick. They are straight down the 88.
Not at all surprised. Even the hospital can’t sustain so many Medicaid patients that it has in Lakewood. They are trying to run a business and not a charity — many in Lakewood would not understand that the population in Lakewood is too high and many are on Medicaid. They were forced into this decision.
So backwards-one of the largest birth rates in the country with no community hospital to accommodate the town, not to mention the huge constant cash cow loss of deliveries. Like moving next to the ocean and told no swimming or viewing allowed.
Thank you KMC for my current unemployment!
While it is true that some nurses have been hired elsewhere, not all of us have been offered positions, and even those who have received job offers within the system have not been offered positions of equal status (For example I used to work full time days, and now I have been offered a per diem night position 40 minutes away! although even this was not offered to me.)
So thank you Kimball for allowing me to offer my time and expertise to the Lakewood (and beyond) community for the past many years and for the wonderful way I am being repaid for my services.
I have had scores of happy and appreciative moms over the years and I am thankful to have been a part of many families joyous occasions.
The real scoop on how this is all going down should be reported as follows:
Kimball officially closed its maternity ward on April 24, 2014. Sixty two nurses were laid off of which 19 have been offered various positions at Community Medical Center in Toms River. The rest were offered severance and told to take unemployment. Although we all knew it was eventually going to happen, Barnabas Health was never truthful nor forthcoming with us employees as to when the officially closing was to take place leaving us all in limbo in regards to finding alternate employment opportunities or for planning for alternate health insurance options. Human Resources did not meet with employees until April 23-24 to discuss what benefits we would receive upon layoff and if any positions were still available for hire within the system. The KMC Mother Infant Pavilion (MIP) nurses were a close knit group of expert nurses, well trained in their area who were exceptionally compassionate and dedicated to their patients, well educated and sensitive to the needs of the Orthodox Community, who loved what they did.
Not only is it absurd that there will no longer be a maternity ward in the fastest growing town in the US, but it is also quite a shame that KMC has needed to bear the brunt of all the false rumors and nasty comments inflicted upon its name by those who have never even set foot inside KMC’s four walls. Ask any mom who has ever delivered at KMC and they will boast about the doctors, nurses, care and level of expertise provided to them while delivering and recovering at KMC. Its a shame, but these slanderous rumors, and subsequent lack of loyalty to KMC, has ultimately brought about the closure of KMC’s MIP unit thus losing a safety net for those mom’s who have no time to get elsewhere.
OGOA, the doctors and midwives will continue to deliver their expert care at Community Medical Center in Toms River. While some KMC have been hired there the gem that was KMC’s MIP unit will be remembered fondly by those who have worked and delivered there and have come to call it family.
I wish everyone, the nurses, mom’s to be, and all the Scoop’s readers, the best of luck!
Having experienced three unbelievable births at Ocean Medical Center=Brick Hospital, can’t seem to understand why the Lakewood Community wouldn’t want to hop over there (right down route 88) for a local ,convenient ,and most pleasurable experience. Nurses and Doctors and entire staff top notch!!
We use Brick – it is a great hospital and I’ll never understand why people shlep to Monmouth.
I had four unbelievable births at kmc- the nurses are exceptionally warm and caring!!! Thank you!!!
Thank You so much to the nurse above and the entire unreal labor and delivery staff at KMC. Please know that those of us that were fortunate to be under your care have tried to spread the word about the incredible experience that we have had at KMC. Of all my births, the most positive birth experience was at your hospital. Unfortunately, many in Lakewood follow the hype that comes along with newer doctors and hospitals, This is a great loss for Lakewood. My heart goes out to the nurses and their families. Please know that your efforts were noticed and appreciated. Wishing you the best of luck.
What if theres an emergency, they’re gonna send ppl away ?! Thats not legal.
Not all businesses are successfull just because it has customers, it takes a lot of elements to have a thriving operation. So, in the contrary it seems KMC recognized that they don’t have what it takes to be successfull in this line and to avoid loosing money they just eliminated the liability. A smart move.
I thought this is temporary. From what I understood in the articles prior to this one..they are just closing the maternity ward while they do their renovations and once they become monmouth medical center south the maternity ward will be opened and the level of care will be just as good as monmouth?!!! please correct me if i am wrong
To #11, #6 and others.. You usually don’t get to choose the hospital you want to give birth at; it has to do with the doctor you use and who they are affiliated with. I wouldn’t mind giving birth at a closer hospital, but, my doctor delivers in Monmouth. And btw, like so many other people in this town, I did use Feinberg’s office with Kimball by my first child and would’ve loved to stay on with them.. Oh well.
Every hospital became a business just like the doctors offices. The minute you walk in they ask for your insurance card and copay. they really couldn’t care what you are doing there. Years ago these questions were never asked. Since KMC is the same owners as MMC and everyone started going to MMC they decided why keep open 2 places if they are anyway getting all the customers. NO MORE IDEALISM ONLY MONET MONEY MONEY!!!!
There most be a bigger story here. Lakewood is growing why wouldn’t they make KMC a better hospital.
MMC figured out how to make money off of all the Medicaid patients?
I feel bad for all those that lost their job.
This is a piece of Lakewood history.
Some Lakewood families have been using KMC (aka Paul Kimbal Hospital) for 3 generations.
It goes back to the days of The RY Marainu R’ Aharon zatzal,
[The RY R’ Malkiel himself as probably born there too].
I know of a family of which both the husband and the wife 2 children & THE TWO grandfathers were ALL born in Kimbal Hospital.
20 – thanks for that info; it is sad to see such a piece of Lakewood history coming to an end.
I’d like to add my best wishes to the nurse above and to the rest of them, even those that were fortunate to find comparable positions elsewhere – it’s never easy starting over…
on a practical note – does anyone know if there are any local practices that deliver in ocean medical center?
(as one who has long labors and longer working hours, a closer doctor is more important to me than a closer hospital!)
Why do you keep repeating the garbage that the KMC PR team is feeding you? “Currently, only 16 percent of Lakewood babies are delivered annually at Kimball Medical Center, while more than 50 percent of Lakewood babies are delivered at Monmouth Medical Center”. Well, of course, after you throw out the top doctor at the hospital you better beieve you wont get the majority of the patients. why dont you quote the percentages from 2000-2010 when KMC had one of the best Doctors in the nation – Dr. Feinberg, leading a most fantastic group of doctors and midwives? What were the percentages then??? i dont blame KMC from posting this nonsense to explain their most bizare decision. But why are you, The Lakewood Scoop, amongst other publications, disseminating this baloney?
Instead of towing their line and trying to convince everyone that this is the best thing that happened to Lakewood, why don’t you try and pressure them to understand that this is indeed a very disturbing development?
It is a shame as many have said above. Lakewood is growing massively and many soon to be mothers have BARELY made it to KMC in time to deliver their babies. How are they supposed to make it to MMC?! The smart decision would have been to contribute a portion of their $11 million to take care of the maternity unit and recruit certain specialists to be on hand, as many families requested. I have never worked for a “company” with such poor morale and lack of loyalty and respect in my life! The fact that the unit closed on April 23rd and staff who were scheduled to work at 7pm that night were notified at 5pm that day is appalling. Not to mention, Employees weren’t even contacted until the 24th in reference to what they were entitled to is awful! Good luck to those who cannot make it all the way to CMC or MMC and have to go to KMC er. Nothing against them, but they are not qualified for it and they have stated that!
Unfortunately hospitals DO operate on money and when the majority of the patients are on government assistance, which pays a quarter of the expenses, AND the number of patients delivering there decrease by HALF in a year, the hospital can’t afford to keep the unit open. I wish Lakewood realized this before it was too late.
perhaps, instead of raisingmoney to open more and more schools, we should raise money so that Kimball can attract the best doctors. it is criminal that a community with so many births does not have a quality hospital