Warren General Hospital Announces Changes to OBGYN Services Due to National Physician Shortage
[Warren, PA] January 5, 2026 — Warren General Hospital announces a modified obstetrical service model. Effective January 13, 2026, the hospital will no longer offer inpatient labor and delivery services. This difficult decision follows an exhaustive national recruitment search and a sudden change in physician availability.
The Challenge of Recruitment
For several years, the hospital’s OBGYN program has been maintained by two physicians. On December 29, 2025, the hospital was notified that one of those physicians would not be participating in the delivery of babies for the foreseeable future
This change comes after more than a year of aggressive, multi-channel recruitment efforts to expand the team. To date, WGH has:
● Contacted 28 OBGYN residency programs nationwide- all 16 OBGYN residency programs in Pennsylvania, 6 in Western New York, and 6 in Eastern Ohio - in attempts to connect with potential OBGYN physician candidates.
● Utilized 10 recruiting agencies to try to locate OBGYN candidates from around the United States.
● Reached out to every available candidate on Practice Link, the nation’s leading physician job board.
● Engaged with U.S. Representative Glenn Thompson, PA Representative Kathy Rapp, and PA Senator Scott Hutchinson to advocate for recruitment assistance.
"Despite our exhaustive efforts and the support of our legislative leaders, the national shortage of OBGYN specialists has made it impossible to secure the staffing levels required to safely maintain a 24/7 labor and delivery unit at this time," said Dan Grolemund, CEO. "Our priority is, and always will be, the safety and well-being of our patients."
Commitment to Women’s Health
While labor and delivery changes have been made to modify our available OBGYN services moving forward, WGH remains deeply committed to providing comprehensive women’s healthcare. WGH will continue to provide a wide array of on-site outpatient women's health care services, including gynecologic, prenatal, and postpartum care. Our remaining physician will continue to see patients and will oversee our Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), either onsite or remotely. If our other physician returns, he will also provide outpatient women's health services to our WGH patients.
Approximately 175 babies have been delivered each year at WGH. Over the last 20 years, this number has steadily declined from approximately 400 deliveries each year. WGH will work collaboratively with the expecting mothers regarding the following three labor and delivery options for these births: UPMC Chautauqua (20 miles from WGH), AHN St. Vincent Hospital (62 miles from WGH), and UPMC Hamot Magee-Women's Hospital (67 miles from WGH).
The hospital will continue to offer a wide array of on-site outpatient services, including:
● Prenatal and Postpartum Care
● Gynecologic Care
● Wellness Exams and Routine Screenings
These services will be led by our remaining board-certified physician and supported by our highly skilled team of Advanced Practice Providers (APPs). To ensure continuity of care, we have also established a relationship with Dr.Michael Scutella from OBGYN Associates of Erie. Dr. Scutella's group consists of 18 outstanding, highly trained OBGYN physicians. Dr. Scutella provides excellent outpatient care to the numerous communities in the region, with labor and delivery services provided in Erie. OBGYN Associates of Erie is willing to come to Warren in the future to provide outpatient women's health services and same-day surgeries, beginning as early as summer/fall of 2026.
Dr. Hannah Zank, who is currently in her OBGYN residency, is scheduled to join WGH's OBGYN team in July 2027. Beginning at that time, we are hopeful that Dr. Zank will lead our outpatient women's health care services and assist OBGYN Associates of Erie with call coverage.
Next Steps for Patients
Hospital leadership and clinical staff are working directly with expectant mothers to ensure a smooth transition of their delivery plans to nearby facilities. Patients with upcoming appointments will not experience any disruption in their prenatal or gynecologic care.
If our second physician returns to full duty, they will rejoin our team in providing outpatient women's health services to further support the community.
There are 14 RNs in our Maternity Department. The contributions of these nurses to our community to date have been immeasurable. All of these nurses will have the opportunity to staff positions in other hospital departments, after appropriate training.
“Many members of our administration were born at WGH. We understand the magnitude of this decision and the need to support pregnant women in our region. However, with our options being extremely limited, we feel this array of solutions is the best to provide our patients with high-quality, reliable women's health care moving forward”, said Grolemund.
About Warren General Hospital
Warren General Hospital is a leading healthcare provider committed to delivering exceptional, close-to-home care to the residents of Warren County and the surrounding region. With a focus on quality, safety, and patient experience, Warren General Hospital continually strives to meet the evolving health needs of its community.