Dillenburg (dpa/lhe) - The lights are finally going out in the obstetrics ward of the Dill clinics in Dillenburg in central Hesse. As previously announced, the department will close on December 31 of this year. The last regular birth took place on December 27, according to a spokeswoman. Emergencies would be treated up to the last day. According to its own statements, the hospital had tried in vain in the past few months to find three senior physicians for the department so that it did not have to be closed.
"We very much regret that obstetrics cannot continue due to a lack of personnel capacity," said Tobias Gottschalk, spokesman for the management of the Lahn-Dill-Kliniken, according to a statement. All efforts to fill the vacancies have not been successful.
Expectant mothers in the region now have it much further to the nearest clinic with a delivery room and have to drive to Siegen, Wetzlar, Gießen or Marburg.
The closure plans had caused criticism and protests in the past few weeks and months. The left-wing faction in the Hessian state parliament, for example, sees the security of supply endangered by the cessation of the station. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, the supply of pregnant women in the region is secured.
In Hesse, 13 obstetric wards in hospitals have closed in the past 10 years due to a lack of staff or for cost reasons. According to the latest information from the country, there are currently around 40 clinics with obstetrics departments.
