Nurses at Research Medical Center in southern Kansas City say although the hospital no longer operates a labor and delivery unit, pregnant patients still show up in the emergency room, some under the impression the department still exists.
“We have patients that have given birth to their previous children at this hospital and they believe that they'll be able to walk in and do the same thing when that's not the case,” said Olivia Huggans, an emergency room nurse at Research Medical.
Huggans said this strains emergency room staff. Huggans, other nurses and union members voiced safety concerns at a rally hosted on Thursday night by their union, National Nurses United. Huggans said nurses at Research Medical don’t have adequate training or supplies to properly respond to an obstetric emergency.
“We are also understaffed at baseline,” Huggans said. “Every single shift at Research Medical Center is understaffed.”
Huggans said they see pregnant patients in the emergency room on a weekly basis. She said in September, when the hospital announced it would close the unit because not enough patients needed it, leadership promised a nurse who specializes in obstetrics would be on staff at all times.
But Huggans said the hospital hasn’t made good on that promise.
“We have some OB coverage, but mostly not on nights and weekends,” she said. “The hospital is left without anyone in the hospital that is trained to deliver a baby.”
The hospital's website has 105 open listings for various nurse positions at Research Medical's main and Brookside campuses. Three of the listings are for obstetrics trauma registered nurses.
A spokesperson for HCA Midwest Health, which owns Research Medical, said the staff levels at the hospital are appropriate to safely meet the needs of their patients.
Nurses demand hospital leadership provide a trauma-trained obstetric nurse for all shifts, including nights and weekends; equipment needed for fetal monitoring and obstetric emergencies; and more registered nurses per shift.
They also want leadership to review how ready the emergency and operating rooms are to respond to obstetric emergencies, and post signs in the emergency room notifying patients the hospital doesn’t have a labor and delivery unit anymore.
Christine Hamele, a spokesperson for HCA Midwest Health, spoke against the rally.
“Activity like this – attempting to take advantage of unrelated situations to gain attention – is unfortunately a routine tactic from this labor union,” she said.
Hamele said pregnant patients show up at emergency rooms that don’t have labor and delivery services nationwide. She said Research Medical is ready.
“Our physicians, nurses and clinical teams are extensively and regularly trained to evaluate and care for both mother and baby and to coordinate any necessary transfer for ongoing obstetric care,” Hamele said.
Hamele said it’s uncommon for pregnant patients to give birth at Research Medical before they are transferred, but if that happens, their staff follows safety protocols.
Hamele did not respond to specific questions about what training they’ve offered for obstetric emergencies or if they will offer more. She did not answer questions about when the hospital has an obstetrics nurse on staff or if nurses have consistent access to the equipment they would need to care for a pregnant patient, like fetal monitoring tools.
Jake Liston, a union member who works in the emergency room at Research Medical’s Brookside campus, said Research Medical Center is a landmark in the community. He said many patients arrive on foot or by bus and choose Research Medical because it is the closest.
“HCA should be ready for them,” Liston said. “There's no excuses from the nursing perspective for HCA not to be giving us all the tools we need to treat our patients in this community.”
