| 06/02/2006 |
| Local hospitals reject idea of shortage of obstetricians |
| By: Jeff Sonderman |
| DUNMORE
- Local hospital officials said they don't see a shortage of OB-GYNs
in the community, countering a picture painted by U.S. Sen. Rick
Santorum at a local press event on Thursday. "This is a true crisis," Mr. Santorum, R-Penn Hills, said at Advanced Imaging Specialists, a diagnostic medical imaging center. As he was endorsed by a political group of Pennsylvania OB-GYNs, Mr. Santorum cited the recent closure of nine maternity wards near Philadelphia and five near Pittsburgh, because liability costs were too high for their OB-GYNs. Accompanying Mr. Santorum was Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. Mr. Frist often highlights his 20-year career as a surgeon prior to entering politics. "No expectant mother ... should have to worry in Pennsylvania about having access to someone to deliver that baby," Mr. Frist said. "It is wrong." It may be wrong, but it's not the case in Lackawanna County, hospital officials said. While Lackawanna County has a short supply of some types of specialty doctors, OB-GYNs are not among them. "There is not a shortage here in the city - we have a plethora," said J. Michael Tedesco, D.O., an OB-GYN who practices at Mercy Hospital. "This is one of the few areas we probably have an abundance of obstetricians." One OB-GYN, AnnMarie Ledley-Lewis, D.O., just came to Mercy from Texas. "We have three (OB-GYNs) - we're actually very happy," Mercy president and chief executive James E. May said. Community Medical Center, in only one year, hired five OB-GYNs - Stacey J. Carlitz, D.O., Sumit B. Ghosh, M.D., Barry L. Green, D.O., Melissa M. Scalera, M.D., and Brian D. Wilcox, M.D. CMC now has those five doctors working for its Women's Care Center and isn't seeking any more, spokeswoman Jane Gaul said. Three private practice OB-GYNs also regularly use the hospital's facilities. Moses Taylor, meanwhile, has about 14 OB-GYNs working in its Family Birthing Suites, which it expanded and renovated for $10 million in 2005. "Maybe you have been able to recruit one or two physicians up in this area," Mr. Santorum said when questioned by a reporter about whether there really is a critical shortage of doctors. "But the overwhelming trend is a bad one." Mr. Santorum used the claim of a shortage of OB-GYNs to argue a need for a federal limit on jury awards to plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases. He feels such a cap would help attract doctors by lowering their malpractice insurance premiums and decreasing the number of lawsuits against doctors. Contact the writer: jsonderman@timesshamrock.com
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