AdventHealth Ottawa celebrates upcoming delivery date

AdventHealth Ottawa is expanding care with the much-anticipated return of labor and delivery services to Franklin County. Beginning Sept. 22, expecting families will be able to welcome their babies at the Family Birth Place under the watchful care of Bridget Abney, MD, OB/GYN, Raven Weiss, MD, Family Medicine/Obstetrics, Haley Lowell, MD, Family Medicine/Obstetrics, who starts in early September, and a dedicated Family Birth Place staff. In 2026, Chase Brown, MD, Family Medicine/Obstetrics, will join the team, completing the labor and delivery program at AdventHealth Ottawa.

“Across our AdventHealth Ottawa extended service area there are over 500 deliveries each year. Many of these families live outside of communities that provide these services and must travel a great distance to deliver their babies. We are proud to be re-opening our labor and delivery program and Family Birth Place to care for these families,” said Brendan Johnson, president and chief officer of AdventHealth Ottawa. “We worked diligently to resume these critical services through deliberate and thoughtful recruiting efforts, even with the challenging hiring environment facing rural communities. We are overjoyed to be delivering on our promise to support patient and family needs in this region and can’t wait for our community to get to know our providers and experience their care.”

Dr. Abney will offer outpatient OB/GYN services and Drs. Weiss and Lowell will provide Family Medicine/Obstetrics services at their office located at the AdventHealth Ottawa Health Park at 901 S. Main Street in Ottawa, Kan. Drs. Weiss and Lowell will also offer Family Medicine/Obstetrics services at the AdventHealth Wellsville Health Park in Wellsville, Kan., in addition to general family medicine services for patients of all ages at both locations.

“It is so important for us to be bringing programs like this back to our communities where there is a defined need. This is especially important as we look to care for Franklin County and our neighboring rural communities who may not have access to this level of maternal care,” said Johnson. “Come September 22^nd, we will celebrate our complete labor and delivery program by providing families with comprehensive care including general family medicine and specialized care during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and newborn care.”

AdventHealth Ottawa began hiring clinical team members in June of 2025 in anticipation of the reopening of the Family Birth Place. As of August 2025, AdventHealth Ottawa has successfully hired 11 full-time positions in the labor and delivery unit.

This announcement builds on exciting and continued momentum for AdventHealth Ottawa, having recently celebrated some important additional milestones, including:

• Drs. Weiss and Lowell joined AdventHealth Ottawa in 2025, offering comprehensive care including general family medicine and specialized care during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and newborn care.
• Dr. Abney joined AdventHealth Ottawa in Dec. 2024, setting in motion the health system’s plans to resume labor and delivery services.
• The AdventHealth Wellsville Health Park opened an expanded clinic in Wellsville, Kan., featuring seven exam rooms, up from four, and will welcome rotating specialty services from AdventHealth Ottawa in Fall 2025, including Behavioral Health, Rheumatology and Women’s Care.
• Johnson was named President and Chief Executive Officer of AdventHealth Ottawa in Jan. 2025.
• AdventHealth Ottawa Health Park completed a $5.2 million expansion and renovation, bringing a new behavioral health program and outpatient cardiology and pulmonology services to the complex that already houses primary care, internal medicine, pediatric, neurology, sleep medicine and rheumatology services. This expansion also included a renovation of the Sports Medicine and Rehab annex space.
• The AdventHealth Ottawa Emergency Department has achieved Geriatric accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). This ACEP accreditation solidifies AdventHealth Ottawa as an institution with a reputation for delivering excellent geriatric patient care.
• AdventHealth Ottawa, in partnership with the AdventHealth Ottawa Foundation, teamed up with the national nonprofit organization Shoes That Fit to provide shoes for Franklin County elementary school students in need. In February, 1,149 students received a brand-new pair of name-brand athletic shoes along with five pairs of socks.