Board-certified OB/GYNs will staff hospital 24/7

As part of its ongoing initiatives to improve patient care, Owensboro Medical Health System is adding an OB/GYN hospitalist program beginning Tuesday, August 28. The program will be offered in partnership with OB Hospitalist Group, which provides one other program in Kentucky and also staffs and manages programs throughout the United States.

The program will bring a team of experienced, board-certified obstetricians and gynecologists on-site to OMHS 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Services will include providing care in times of emergency prior to the arrival of a patient’s personal physician, supporting the care of high risk pregnancy patients and delivering babies for patients who do not have an obstetrician.

Hospitalists are physicians who specialize solely in caring for patients who are hospitalized, rather than in a clinical office setting. The OB/GYN hospitalists at OMHS will provide care for women in labor and delivery and for those who need emergent gynecological care.

Chris Toler, MD, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at OMHS, said the hospitalist program will expand the existing network of support from OB/GYNs.

“We will work with our community’s OB/GYNs to enhance continuity of care for pregnant women and emergency department patients with pressing gynecological issues,” Toler said. “The hospitalists will enhance patient safety and improve the coordination and efficiency of care.”

The addition of the dedicated OB-GYN hospitalist team is not intended to replace a woman’s regular OB/GYN or family physician but to supplement the care that is already provided.