Former Soldotna Mayor and local OBGYN doctor Nels Anderson is in Utah at a Missionary Training Center before heading to Africa for mission work.
Central Peninsula Hospital Chief Executive Officer Rick Davis says his departure has left a gap in OBGYN coverage because Anderson “delivered a lot of babies”.
Davis: “The hospital is bringing in temporary physicians from the outside to make sure we’re able to keep the services available. Then in the longer term we’re trying to bring a permanent replacement into the community.”
He says the next few months will reveal how big of a gap that might be.
In July the Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly approved the allocation of $741,500 from the CPGH, Inc. Plant Replacement and Expansion Fund to purchase a OBGYN clinic for temporary doctors to practice.
Davis says that is the best option because the hospital does not have space for the temporary physicians and Anderson’s departure was preceded by another local OBGYN, Dr. Jo Lynn Hawthorne, leaving in July 2015.
