TOLEDO, Ohio — Editor's note: The attached video is from an unrelated story that aired on May 5, 2022.
Mercy Health announced the removal of OB care, which includes maternity and fetal care, from St. Charles Hospital on Tuesday morning.
Representatives from the healthcare company said in a statement that St. Charles would continue to provide OB care until Dec. 18, 2022, when care will transition to St. Vincent Medical Center.
According to Mercy Health, the transition will allow healthcare providers from both locations to collaborate and expand the quality of maternity care at St. Vincent, "elevating maternal care from the current basic care (level I) at St. Charles to a regional perinatal health care center (level IV) at St. Vincent."
St. Charles is the second hospital in the Toledo area to remove labor and delivery services; in May 2022, McLaren St. Luke's announced they would no longer provide OB care beginning in September 2022.
In the statement, hospital representatives stressed the company's commitment to women in the Toledo area during the transitional phase.
"Mercy Health is further committed to mothers in our community and is growing access to women in our eastern communities, including East Toledo and Oregon and beyond, with the addition of new OB providers," Mercy Health officials said in a statement.
St. Charles is located in east Toledo and services much of the east Toledo and Oregon area, while St. Vincent is in the vicinity of central and north Toledo.