Mass. DPH Delays Leominster Hospital’s Plan To Close Maternity Ward

The DPH called the hospital’s plan to accommodate patients in need of maternity services “inadequate;” Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella said the hospital's plan "failed miserably at the task."

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LEOMINSTER – The Massachusetts Department of Health has delayed UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital’s plan to shut down the maternity ward of its Leominster campus.

The Leominster hospital originally planned on closing its maternity ward on Sept. 23, but because the DPH determined the hospital’s maternity ward an “essential service,” it had to provide a closure plan that detailed how access to these services would be maintained for expectant birthing persons in North Central Massachusetts.

The hospital’s plan, submitted to the DPH on Aug. 22, included proposals to transport patients in labor to area hospitals (largely in the UMass Memorial system) after closure of the service, and to conduct a community needs assessment and gap analysis with Health Resources in Action (HRiA), a non-profit organization dedicated to achieving health equity at the community-level. The hospital also said it would provide additional training to nurses and doctors in the emergency room “to augment their care of obstetric emergencies.”

The plan submitted was not satisfactory, according to the DPH. The department asked for further specification from the hospital and a new closure date that extends beyond Sept. 23.

“Consistent with the requirements of MGL c. 111, s. 51G(4) and 105 CMR 130.122, the Department expects the Hospital to have a fully developed and implemented access plan and should not contemplate closure of the Service until the Department deems the essential service process complete,” the DPH said in a statement. “Based upon the information provided to date, the Department does not believe the Hospital’s closure plan is adequate, particularly as related to transportation and community engagement via the HRiA assessment, to allow for closure on September 23, 2023. In your follow up response to the Department, please include a viable closure date beyond September 23, 2023.”

Arguing the closure will produce undue burdens on patients by transporting them significant distances for maternal care, Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella, organized labor, and community organizations have been protesting the closure of the hospital’s maternity ward since the hospital announced its plan to close it in May.

“The regulations don’t call for a plan to submit a plan. The regulations call for a comprehensive plan on how expectant mothers are going to access services from prenatal through postpartum care in our region. The Hospital failed miserably at the task,” Mazzarella said in a statement. Adding, “I was truly shocked to see the Hospital’s lack of effort. Using MapQuest.com to determine drive times instead of real time traffic data is just one example of the lack of importance the Hospital places on this process.”

The hospital has cited staffing shortages and a decline in birth rates at the hospital as the primary reasons for its decision to close its inpatient maternity ward. According to NBCBoston.com, there were about two births per day at the Leominster campus in 2017, that average has dropped to 1.3 births a day as of fiscal year 2023.