Expectant mothers who have relied on Plainview Hospital in Plainview to deliver their baby will have to resort to another hospital location in the future.

Beginning Nov. 1, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System plans to close the maternity ward and convert it into a surgical center.

A spokesperson for the hospital confirmed the decision was based on declining births at the hospital. In 2011, there were more than 1,400 births at the hospital.  This year the number of births at the hospital is expected to be less than 1,000.

The maternity ward houses 15 beds. It will house medical surgical beds or operating rooms with the conversion to a surgical unit.

Patients in need of gynecological surgery services can still find care at the hospital. Obstetric and gynecological emergencies will also continue to be handled at its emergency department.

Those in need of obstetrician care at the maternity center will be referred to nearby hospitals like Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola or South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside – both roughly more than 10 miles away from Plainview Hospital.

[Source: FiOS1 News; Patch.com]