Wilkes-barre Politics 
Leighton Says He's Too Busy For Chair 
W-b City Councilman Doesn't Want To Return As The Council Chairman. Mike
Mcginley Could Get The Job.

Albert Manzi

By STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@leader.net
 Sunday, January 05, 2003 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





HAZLETON - Hazleton area's newest babies of 2003 will be among the last to
be born in Hazleton's first and only Catholic hospital. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Greater Hazleton Health Alliance will open a new birthing center at its
Broad Street Campus tomorrow and close the one at its Church Street Campus. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The alliance's Church Street Campus, known as Hazleton-St. Joseph Medical
Center until the alliance made changes in March, handled Hazleton's births
during the last 40 years, said Sue Farley, the alliance's director of
patient/community relations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Catholic affiliation began in 1944 when, in an effort to expand their
ministry into health care, the Bernardine Sisters of St. Francis bought the
Corrigan Maternity Hospital from the obstetrician brothers who owned it. Later
that year, the nuns founded the facility as St. Joseph's Maternity Hospital. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The order renovated the facility and it was rededicated as St. Joseph's
Hospital in 1949. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Farley said the alliance's Broad Street Campus, originally founded in the
1800s as Hazleton Miners Hospital by the Coxe family, shared the
responsibility of handling births with St. Joseph Hospital into the early
1960s. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Hazleton Miners Hospital later became known as the Hazleton State
Hospital, and then as Hazleton General Hospital when the state relinquished
control. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Alliance President Bernard C. Rudegeair in March announced several other
changes at the hospitals, including the consolidation of services during the
next five years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 St. Joseph's would close its emergency room and the hospital would mostly
be an outpatient facility with some inpatient rehabilitation services.
Hospital spokesman David Haupt said eliminating some of the alliance's
duplicated services would save money. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rudegeair said the move would improve services and include others only
found at larger hospitals. For example, the emergency services department at
General will at least double in size and trauma rooms would be added. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When planning the state-of-the-art birthing center at the Broad Street
Campus, the alliance sought input from physicians and mothers who gave birth
at the St. Joseph facility in 1999. The new center will have nine birthing
rooms, compared to five at the Church Street Campus. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mothers who go into labor today or tomorrow before 7 a.m. should still go
to the Church Street Campus to give birth. The maternity ward there will
remain open as long as necessary to care for patients admitted before 7 a.m.
tomorrow, said nursing supervisor Theresa Wilkinson. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wilkinson recalled beginning her career as a maternity nurse at St. Joseph
Hospital in 1963, when ``doctors were still running back and forth'' between
Hazleton's hospitals to oversee births. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wilkinson said she loved being able ``to see the tears of joy instead of
seeing tears of sadness all the time'' compared to nurses in other
specialties. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``There were sad times with the loss of a baby, but there were many happy
times when you see a baby cry and take the first breath of life,'' said
Wilkinson, who especially cherished being involved in a particular birth
earlier this year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Being able to be part of my daughter's delivery as an ex-maternity nurse
was very gratifying, to be helpful to her, to be part of my own
granddaughter's birth,'' Wilkinson said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wilkinson said New Year's Eve was always a fun time in the maternity wards,
especially when both hospitals had maternity wards. ``There was a sort of
competition between the nurses. One hospital would call the other and say,
`Did you have the first baby?' '' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wilkinson said parents whose baby was the first to be born in a new year in
Hazleton were extra joyful because a local newspaper gives gifts to the first
boy and girl born every year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``But some were also happy (if their child was born in December) to get
that income tax deduction,'' Wilkinson said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 One of the parents of a New Year's baby was a longtime Hazleton
obstetrician, Dr. George Scheers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now retired, Scheers said he began practicing obstetrics in Germany in the
Army before coming to Hazleton's hospitals in 1962. Hazleton had only two
other obstetricians when he started - Dr. Joe Fecina and Dr. John Campbell. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At the time, about 25 general practitioners delivered almost all of the
Hazleton area's babies, with obstetricians called in for risky births or
obstetric surgeries. Scheers said he saw that trend change over the years, and
now almost all babies are delivered by obstetricians. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His favorite memories include delivering his two children and two
grandchildren. Another birth that stands out in Scheers' mind was the delivery
of triplets in a family that already had five or six children. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``The headlines read, `Full house has three of a kind,' '' Scheers said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Retired maternity nurse Shirley Temko recalled when maternity nurses made
their own formula in an autoclave and washed baby bottles in addition to their
other duties. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Temko lamented the reduction of the length in hospital stay for new mothers
over the years. Years ago, new mothers and their babies remained in the
hospital five to 10 days after the birth; now it's about 72 hours. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Now you don't have a chance to teach them as much, how to hold the baby,
dress the baby, wash and feed the baby. A lot of them now are like, `Could you
come home with me?' '' Temko said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Retired maternity nurse Helen Williams recalled when St. Joseph's had only
one birthing room, which was built in the 1980s. ``The doctors would fight
over who would get to use it,'' Williams said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Before St. Joseph's had a birthing room, fathers and other family members
were sent home to await a call announcing a birth. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Birthing rooms provide amenities that allow family members to participate
in the birth. Some fathers liked the new practice, but others may not have
appreciated it quite as much. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Some of the men were really interested; we had a few that would pass out.
It was a challenge. But I noticed the patients themselves acted so much better
with the husbands there. They were more relaxed and needed less pain
medication,'' Williams said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Temko said the Bernardine sisters were always ``a big help'' in the
maternity ward. They helped provide spiritual and emotional comfort to new and
expecting mothers, while nurses cared for their medical needs, Temko said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sister Mary Laetissima, a Bernardine nun who has worked in St. Joseph's
maternity ward since 1962, recalled when nurses had to care for 20 to 30
babies at a time compared to a current average of seven or eight. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``There were four to six deliveries every day. ... We worked hard, but it
was like one big family. Everyone worked together.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A shorter length of stay mandated by insurance companies and a decline in
the birth rate decreased the number of newborns the current staff of maternity
nurses cares for on a daily basis. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Laetissima said she looks forward to a partial retirement with the opening
of the new birthing center at the Broad Street Campus. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I'll be able to do more work on my arts and crafts. I also take care of
the hospital chapel. And I'm sure they'll find some more work for me to do.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 459-2005. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The End Of An Era The Last St. Joe's Babies Birthing Center Moving To Other Campus