Dozens gathered Thursday night for a candlelight vigil for a birthing center that is in its final hours unless the state intervenes.
UMass Memorial Health intends to move forward with plans to close the inpatient maternity unit at HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital in Leominster, Massachusetts, company officials confirmed Thursday, saying they do not have adequate staffing to safely offer their patients care.
The closure has been a point of contention for the surrounding community. Opponents say closing the unit will have devastating impacts on thousands of patients. Groups have been fighting to save the birthing center since UMass Memorial announced the plans to close it in May, and Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella has been an outspoken critic of the plan, still calling for delays as recently as this week.
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At a vigil Thursday night, dozens of people held candles as they clung to a glimmer of hope.
"It's heartbreaking, I can't sleep at night, just worrying about what's going to happen with the patients," said Amy Gagnon, a labor and delivery nurse.
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"We've lost pediatrics, we've lost, now, the maternity ward," Mazzarella said at the vigil. "It's just like there's a tree and they just keep cutting off another branch."
The Department of Public Health did intervene at one point, calling for a delay over concerns that the plan did not have adequate provisions for patient care. Ultimately the hospital provided updated plans and health officials said they did not have the authority to keep the unit open further. In a statement issued Thursday, the agency confirmed that UMass Memorial did follow the appropriate procedures to move forward with the closure.
Because DPH deemed the Leominster maternity ward an "essential service," the health care system was required to submit a plan outlining how patients could continue to access services without the facility.
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“DPH remains steadfast in its commitment to safe, high-quality care for all residents of the Commonwealth. UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital’s September 11 letter clarifies that it does not have sufficient professional staff to continue to operate the unit safely after September 23. It also included details about the transportation services UMass Memorial is offering to patients and about the capacity of other providers to take on the care that will no longer be provided at Leominster. In these circumstances, DPH has determined that it will now focus on monitoring and enforcement related to the implementation of the closure plan.”
A spokesperson for UMass Memorial said they will be offering transportation for patients affected by this closure, which goes into effect Saturday, to alternative facilities. The next closest options are UMass Memorial's primary campus in Worcester, Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Heywood Hospital in Gardner, and Emerson Hospital in Concord.
"And while it will be a difficult day on Saturday, it is our hope that we can move forward together to continue providing exceptional, culturally competent, and compassionate care, while strengthening and expanding resources for all those in need. HA-C — along with our other community hospitals, the Medical Center and Community Healthlink — is central to our ongoing efforts to become the best place to give care and to get care in our region," UMass Memorial Health president and CEO Eric Dickson wrote in a letter to caregivers in the health group.
Advocates are hoping Gov. Maura Healey will step in at the 11th hour.
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