Hospital Will End Era of Welcoming Babies : Medicine: Westlake Medical Center is closing maternity ward after 23 years. Families lament end to cozy atmosphere.

Mary and Bill Parker of Newbury Park stood on either side of the hospital nursery bassinet, where 3-hour-old Alyssa lay sleeping after her first bath.

“She’s gorgeous,” her father said, reaching down to stroke Alyssa’s tiny head. Her mother gently touched her baby’s face, hands and feet.

“She has her daddy’s big feet,” she said.

The tender scenes of wonder may have been played out for the last time Thursday in the nursery at Westlake Medical Center.

Alyssa Marie Parker, born at 8:34 a.m. Thursday, may be the last baby born there, as the small, single-floor maternity ward with its wallpapered rooms and its nurses who know their patients is absorbed into the larger ward at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks.

Westlake, where on average 40 babies a month are born, decided to stop admitting most expectant mothers after Thursday and will close the maternity ward’s doors at 7 a.m. Sunday after 23 years.

“I was going to be induced so I could have my baby here,” said Mary Parker, only half in jest. “Well, she was overdue anyway.”

But Parker, who gave birth to her son at Westlake, went into labor on her own. “It’s just such a homey atmosphere here,” she added.

Westlake was purchased by the parent company of Los Robles, Columbia HCA, over the summer. Although the hospital will remain open, its maternity ward is closing to prevent duplication of services.

Doctors and nurses fought closure of the ward, saying the smaller Westlake hospital offered a cozy atmosphere for parents who sought a more personal experience than they might receive in a large medical center.

Dr. Karie McMurray, chief of obstetrics at Westlake, had tried to persuade the hospital’s owner to keep it operating.

“We’re very disappointed that it’s closing, and we’re concerned about the workload at the other hospital,” she said Thursday at Westlake, where she had come to check on three of her patients who delivered there the night before.

“Westlake provided a service to patients that only a small hospital can,” she said. “But I feel that Columbia will continue to give quality care.”

At Los Robles, two extra labor and delivery rooms have been added to the existing five. All seven are bright and roomy, recently redecorated with floral curtains and floors that look like white-washed wood.

There are also two Cesarean section delivery rooms and eight rooms where moms rest before they are sent home.

“We’re expecting up to 200 babies to be born here per month,” said Fran Montalto, director of women and children’s services for Los Robles.

Los Robles also has a neonatal unit, where babies born prematurely or with problems are nursed their first weeks of life. On Thursday, nurses tended twins weighing just over two pounds each.

In the past, babies born at Westlake with severe problems would be transferred to Los Robles or Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center in Tarzana. Usually, the mother would be transferred too, but sometimes there would be a delay for insurance purposes. That problem will be eliminated, Montalto said.

Tara and Tim Tyrrell of Woodland Hills toured both hospitals before making their decision to deliver at Westlake, despite the last-minute uncertainty.

“We’re really sorry they’re closing,” Tara said, cradling newborn Ryan James and gently rocking him. “It’s just so personal here; the other hospitals are like baby factories.”

Eleanor Kalish, a nurse who supervises the Westlake maternity ward, listened to her patients rave about the care that they have received at her hospital.

“It’s all true,” she said. “It’s been a great little hospital to work in. We’ve been able to practice the kind of nursing we love, with personal, individual care.”

As she spoke, Linda Cordes, a nurse on the ward for 10 years, stopped to embrace Kalish. Cordes, who was the nurse for Alyssa’s delivery Thursday morning, was leaving for the day, having worked her last shift at the hospital.

“We’re a small hospital, but this is sort of like the country store, something we can’t really afford anymore,” she said.