Baby deliveries won’t resume at hurricane-damaged hospital

Hospital administrators in Florida’s Panhandle say baby deliveries cannot resume at their facility because of damage from Hurricane Michael.

Deliveries had been halted at Bay Medical Sacred Heart since the Oct. 10 hurricane.

In a News Herald report , officials said “there simply isn’t viable space” for deliveries as the Panama City hospital rebuilds. Twenty people will lose their jobs, in addition to 600 others laid off last month.

Obstetrician offices in the hospital will remain open, along with its emergency room and trauma center.

Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center in Panama City now is the only hospital in Bay County that is handling baby deliveries.

Before the hurricane, Bay Medical averaged about 300 baby deliveries annually, while Gulf Coast Regional averaged more than 2,000.