UMass Memorial Health will close an inpatient maternity unit on its Leominster campus in the fall, a hospital official said, drawing sharp condemnation from lawmakers who represent the region and plan to protest next week.
Citing “industry-wide labor shortages” and “steadily declining births in North Central Massachusetts,” UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital President Steve Roach said the hospital has notified the state Department of Public Health that it intends to close the births. unit on September 22. The plan must be approved by regulators.
“This was an especially difficult decision for our health care system, as our compassionate caregivers have helped thousands of parents and families navigate the birth journey and welcome new loved ones into their lives for so many decades,” Roach said in a statement.
Roach said staffing shortages “exacerbated the challenges of fully staffing our maternity ward consistently … despite our persistent attempts to recruit and retain clinicians in this region. And the declining birth rate, he said, “has a significant impact on the future capacity of our unit to deliver births to our patients.”
Members of the state delegation representing Leominster and the surrounding region were united in their response to the announcement Friday morning. A rally to stop the closure is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the hospital.
State Senator John J. Cronin, a Democrat from Lunenburg, condemned the hospital’s decision to close the unit, calling the move an “unwarranted decision” that puts the health of mothers and their newborns at risk.
“This will result in our most marginalized families without access to reliable transportation being forced to deliver babies in Leominster’s overcrowded emergency room or on the side of the freeway on the way to Gardner or Worcester,” Cronin said in a statement posted on his Facebook page. .
“Over the past decade, North Central has suffered the closings of UMass Memorial’s mental health and urgent care center at Burbank Hospital in Fitchburg, endoscopy and ambulatory services from Clinton, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation and a pediatric inpatient unit in Leominster.” Enough is enough.”
The statement was also shared on social networks by the representatives of Natalie Higgins, Meg Kilcoyne and Mike Kushmerek.
Members of the state delegation representing Leominster and the surrounding region were united in their response to the announcement Friday morning. A rally to stop the closure is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the hospital.
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickStoico.