Spencer discusses rural obstetrics closures with WAOW

Ryan Spencer, MD, MS, associate professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and Rural Residency Track Director, spoke with WAOW about a recent pre- and postnatal care unit closing.

Doctors react to Aspirus Medford OB/GYN news” noted that beginning October 1, Aspirus’s Medford clinic will no longer offer prenatal and postnatal care, making patients in labor have to travel to all the way to Wausau for similar services.

""When patients don't have access to obstetric units in their local area, we know that leads to increased complications for deliveries, and subsequently for those babies that are born, risk to them can be higher as well,” said Spencer."

Currently, there is only one part-time Ob-Gyn physician at the clinic, leading to staffing issues that make it unmanageable to keep the clinic open.

Yet Spencer is optimistic that the UW Department of Ob-Gyn’s rural residency program will be able to provide support and resources in the future for clinics similar to Medford.

You can read the full story here.

**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Paige Stevenson