Service, department cuts on the horizon for Provident Hospital

County hospital says OB, ICU are underused

Provident Hospital of Cook County plans to close its Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology on Oct. 15 due to under utilization.

Robert Hamilton, interim chief operating officer for die hospital, located at 500 E. 51st St., said the OB department delivers fewer than 300 babies a year.

"That's about one birth every other day and mat is not enough work to justify the staff," he told die Defender. "So unfortunately those employees may be laid off if otiier vacant positions cannot be identified for them."

According to Dee Clayton, a spokeswoman for Provident Hospital, 35 of the 40 employees in the OB department, which …