Welch (W. Va.) Community Hospital will no longer deliver babies after its long-time obstetrics physician retired May 31, according to Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
The departure of Julito Sultan, MD, left the hospital with a part-time, temporary OB/GYN. The part-time OB/GYN doesn't take calls, do surgeries or deliver babies, according to the report.
Allison Addler, a spokesperson with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, said four regional hospitals — Princeton (W. Va.) Community Hospital, Bluefield (W. Va.) Regional Medical Center, Logan (W. Va.) Regional Medical Center and Beckley, W. Va.-based Raleigh General Hospital — all have OB/GYN departments.
WCH doesn't plan to reinstate the delivery department at the hospital, which housed 57 delivers in 2014, Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports. The hospital intends to tap a vendor to get two or more OB/GYNs to provide non-emergent services three days a week.