FERRIDAY &8212; An executive committee of the Riverland Medical Center board intended to come to a final decision on the labor and delivery unit Wednesday night at an executive committee meeting.

The meeting was not open to the public, and no members could be reached for comment afterward.

Board member Rena Pitts said before the meeting that the board, doctors and the hospital administrator, would discuss the options.

&8220;The community, just like the board realizes the labor and delivery unit is a vital to the area but we don&8217;t have the money to keep it open,&8221; Pitts said.

&8220;We are forced to look at it, not with our hearts, but look at the financial situation.&8221;

Hospital Administrator Vernon Stevens said although a decision could be reached, the board could not officially vote on reopening or closing the unit until the public meeting Oct. 24.

Stevens said he prepared cost figures requested by the board for the meeting to show how much the variable or changing costs, such as payroll, and the fixed costs would be. The variable costs would be about $50,000 to $55,000 per month, he said.

&8220;The original reason for closing the unit was based on staffing,&8221; Stevens said.

Stevens said the unit did not have enough registered nurses to operate efficiently.

Although he could not guess how much money it would cost, Stevens said the fixed costs were based on the square footage of the unit and how much it would cost to pay for depreciation, utilities and overhead costs like housekeeping, maintenance and dietary costs.

&8220;I don&8217;t think anyone wants to see it close because they didn&8217;t like the service, but we just can&8217;t afford to keep it open,&8221; Stevens said.

Board Chairman Fred Butcher said he would not comment on Tuesday&8217;s meeting beforehand but did say if the topic of personnel came up, he would not comment until personnel had been told about their jobs.