Deliveries up nearly 20 percent so far in 2012
By the middle of the week of September 3, the birth center at Orange City Area Health System had welcomed 152 newborns. That week alone, Dr. Cynthia Pals — one of the health system’s family practice and OB doctors — delivered five babies. Births at the hospital, from January 1 through September 6, 2012, were up nearly 20 percent over the same time period the previous year. Orange City Area Health System’s medical team includes 15 family practice physicians and advance level practitioners; seven of the doctors offer obstetric services. The health system also has two staff surgeons and two anesthetists, should the need arise for a C-section or epidural. Orange City Area Health System includes a hospital, four medical clinics, surgical center, physical and aquatic therapy, two nursing homes, a senior living facility, and home health & hospice. More information at ocHealthSystem.org.