Merkley, Wyden, Bonamici Express Concern Over the Closure of Providence Seaside’s Birthing Center
Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, and U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), are expressing serious concern over the planned closure of labor and delivery services at Providence Seaside and call on Providence Health & Services to support families and clinicians affected by the decision.
Last week, Providence announced that, on October 4, the Seaside hospital would end obstetrics and inpatient newborn care. The lawmakers sent a letter to Providence President and CEO Erik Wexler expressing concerns for mothers, families, and employees affected by the closure.
“We anticipate that this decision will hurt the health and safety of expectant mothers, newborns, and families, who will no longer have local access to obstetrics care,” cautioned the lawmakers.
The Seaside hospital serves a wide geographic area, and the closure will force patients to travel dangerously long distances—in some cases, more than an hour—to receive both routine and emergency obstetric care. Compounded by Samaritan Health Service’s reported plan to close its Lincoln City and Lebanon labor and delivery departments, Providence’s decision would impede access to maternity care in Oregon’s rural communities, while also putting an undue burden on many families that could cause them to bypass necessary medical care.
“In addition, we expect these challenges will only get worse given the Republican reconciliation bill that gutted the health care system by $1 trillion, thereby making it harder for rural and isolated maternity units to survive,” they wrote. “As a result of these cuts, rural and small hospitals will be forced into impossible choices and unpopular operational decisions, like cutting labor and delivery services, in order to keep their doors open.”
While the lawmakers deeply understand the numerous economic challenges facing rural labor and delivery units across Oregon—including low volumes of births, workforce shortages, and challenging reimbursement rates—they’ve also seen the negative impacts labor and delivery unit closures have on Oregon’s mothers and families. Together, they are calling for Providence Health & Services to support the families, clinicians, and communities it serves.
“We urge you to assist expectant families to find alternative options for safe maternal health care so they do not suffer disruptions in their obstetrics care. In addition, we urge you to provide meaningful support to the physicians, nurses, and other clinicians whose jobs will be affected by the reduction in obstetrics care at Providence Seaside. Finally, we urge Providence Seaside to engage in a transparent process with the community it serves as it winds down local obstetrics care,” continued the lawmakers.
Full text of the letter can be found by clicking here.
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