Doctors currently delivering babies at the hospital’s Atlanta location are welcome to deliver babies at Northside Hospital-Forsyth’s new Women’s Center.
It’s a point Russ Davis, spokesman for Northside Hospital, wants to make clear.
“A lot of practices have not set up a backup system necessary for on-call coverage and things like that,” Davis said.
“It is not the hospital holding up any physician from delivering in Forsyth that has privileges at Northside Hospital-Atlanta,” Davis said.
“If patients want to deliver in Forsyth and the obstetrician doesn’t want to deliver their baby there, then the patient needs to make a decision about whether or not they want to stay with that OB, or whether they want to find an obstetrician that will deliver at Forsyth.”
Currently, just three doctors, all from North Point OB/GYN, are delivering babies at the new facility, which opened Aug. 6.
Doctors that have not previously been approved to deliver at a Northside Hospital must go through a credentialing process, for safety and quality. The applications are reviewed on a monthly basis, Davis said.
In total, more than 200 obstetricians are able to deliver babies at Northside Hospital.
But because just three doctors are currently set up to do so at the Forsyth center, many expectant mothers are left in a less than desirable position, including Forsyth resident Jennifer Kaplan.
Kaplan, who is eight months pregnant, thought that because her doctor, John Moore, worked out of an office in Forsyth, she would deliver at the new facility.
But like many physicians, Moore works out of various locations through Atlanta Women’s Health Group.
“Being eight months pregnant, I would really rather go down the street than have to go downtown,” Kaplan said.
As is the case with many obstetricians, though, Atlanta Women’s Health Group is not yet equipped to deliver in Forsyth.
“We have to create an adequate coverage schedule with our offices and physicians to be able to cover two hospitals at the same time,” said Richard Zane, fellow obstetrician at the health group.
“You can’t control when they’re in labor, obviously ... so you have to have nights and weekends covered adequately and that’s a huge undertaking.
“Most obstetricians don’t practice at two different hospitals, let alone [if they’re] 20-25 miles apart.”
Zane said he hopes that by November, the health group, which is currently delivering babies at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, will be able to start doing so locally.
But even in November, operating out of the new women’s center at full capacity will take time.
“We’re going to start easing into it gradually,” he said. “Ramping up slowly is always better than rushing in with a huge number of patients right away.
“We’re looking forward to it, but I think we’ve just got to step back and do it the right way. I know it’s a huge inconvenience for the patients that are probably anxious to get started there, but we want to do it the right way.”
It’s a point Russ Davis, spokesman for Northside Hospital, wants to make clear.
“A lot of practices have not set up a backup system necessary for on-call coverage and things like that,” Davis said.
“It is not the hospital holding up any physician from delivering in Forsyth that has privileges at Northside Hospital-Atlanta,” Davis said.
“If patients want to deliver in Forsyth and the obstetrician doesn’t want to deliver their baby there, then the patient needs to make a decision about whether or not they want to stay with that OB, or whether they want to find an obstetrician that will deliver at Forsyth.”
Currently, just three doctors, all from North Point OB/GYN, are delivering babies at the new facility, which opened Aug. 6.
Doctors that have not previously been approved to deliver at a Northside Hospital must go through a credentialing process, for safety and quality. The applications are reviewed on a monthly basis, Davis said.
In total, more than 200 obstetricians are able to deliver babies at Northside Hospital.
But because just three doctors are currently set up to do so at the Forsyth center, many expectant mothers are left in a less than desirable position, including Forsyth resident Jennifer Kaplan.
Kaplan, who is eight months pregnant, thought that because her doctor, John Moore, worked out of an office in Forsyth, she would deliver at the new facility.
But like many physicians, Moore works out of various locations through Atlanta Women’s Health Group.
“Being eight months pregnant, I would really rather go down the street than have to go downtown,” Kaplan said.
As is the case with many obstetricians, though, Atlanta Women’s Health Group is not yet equipped to deliver in Forsyth.
“We have to create an adequate coverage schedule with our offices and physicians to be able to cover two hospitals at the same time,” said Richard Zane, fellow obstetrician at the health group.
“You can’t control when they’re in labor, obviously ... so you have to have nights and weekends covered adequately and that’s a huge undertaking.
“Most obstetricians don’t practice at two different hospitals, let alone [if they’re] 20-25 miles apart.”
Zane said he hopes that by November, the health group, which is currently delivering babies at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, will be able to start doing so locally.
But even in November, operating out of the new women’s center at full capacity will take time.
“We’re going to start easing into it gradually,” he said. “Ramping up slowly is always better than rushing in with a huge number of patients right away.
“We’re looking forward to it, but I think we’ve just got to step back and do it the right way. I know it’s a huge inconvenience for the patients that are probably anxious to get started there, but we want to do it the right way.”