LEOMINSTER, Mass. — With just two days until UMass Memorial Health’s planned closure of the Birthing Center at Leominster Hospital, supporters of the services set a somber scene along Washington Street Thursday night, gathering for a candlelight vigil.
On Saturday, UMass Memorial Health will shut the doors of the inpatient maternity unit in Leominster and transition the services to UMass Medical Center in Worcester.
Earlier this month, the Department of Public Health (DPH) initially rejected the company’s plan to close the labor and delivery unit, calling it “inadequate.”
UMass Memorial Health was able to update the plan to DPH’s satisfaction.
“DPH remains steadfast in its commitment to safe, high-quality care for all residents of the Commonwealth,” they said in a statement. “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. In these circumstances, DPH has determined that it will now focus on monitoring and enforcement related to the implementation of the closure plan.”
Area residents and hospital workers, however, were not satisfied. Dozens of lined Washington Street just outside the maternity center, comforted each other and held candles.
“It’s just about safety for women and babies and their families knowing that what’s being proposed is just dangerous,” Melissa Bible said.
Heather Daniels, a surgical tech on the maternity unit, echoed those frustrations.
“Very hurt, very sad, very frustrated,” she said.
Mayor Dean Mazzarella vowed to continue to fight for a maternity ward in Worcester County’s second-largest city.
“It’s just unthinkable for this big area, nowhere else in the country does an area exist of this many people that don’t have a maternity ward, that’s a fact,” he said. “We’re here to show our support and to let those administrators at UMass know we’re not going away. This may seem to be the end for them and may be temporarily the end to the maternity ward but it’s not going to be a permanent end to this.”
In a statement, UMass Memorial Health acknowledged that Saturday will be a tough day for the community but says they are committed to providing high-quality care for residents.
“I know this has been a very difficult journey for our caregivers — both at HA-C and at the Medical Center — as well as for our patients and the communities we have pledged to serve,” the company said in a statement. “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.”
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