San Diego, Simi Valley, Latest to Face
Closures
SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Assemblymember Akilah Weber's bill, AB 1895 requiring the state
to conduct community impact assessments before hospitals may close
California maternity wards, passed
out of the Assembly Health Committee last night. Consumer Watchdog
pointed to the bill's requirement that the hospital hold a
community meeting before closing a maternity ward as a key
reform.
"Communities in San Diego and
Simi Valley facing imminent
maternity ward closures, and the many that have already lost this
resource, know how critical it is to give families a place to voice
concerns and provide pregnant mothers with an earlier closure
notice so they can plan for the delivery of their babies," said
Michele Monserratt-Ramos, Kathy
Olsen Patient Safety Advocate for Consumer Watchdog.
In addition to the community impact assessment by the Department
of Health Care Access and the Department of Public Health, Assembly
Bill 1895 will require hospitals that plan on closing labor and
delivery units to notify the state at least 12 months prior to
closure, versus the current 90 day notice. The hospital will also
be required to post public notification on its website within 90
days of closure. The public will be able to comment on the closure
within 60 days, and the hospital must hold at least one public
hearing regarding the maternity ward closure.
At least 46 hospitals in California have closed or suspended their
labor and delivery units since 2012 and many of these closures have
led to maternity care deserts in lower socio-economic
communities. The latest, Scripps Mercy Chula Vista hospital in
San Diego, is planning on closing
its labor and delivery unit in June, and Adventist Health Simi
Valley will close its Labor/Delivery and NICU services on
May 8, 2024.
Physicians and nurses marched to a Chula Vista City Council
meeting last month to present their concerns with the impact of the
closure on access to maternity services. Patients at
Scripps Chula Vista shared their concerns that they had no
idea where they would be delivering their babies. The public and
health care providers called for the California Department of
Public Health to conduct an impact investigation of local maternity
services in the area. Their requests for an impact investigation
were later denied by the California Department of Public
Health.
"We can expect more poor maternal outcomes and an increase in
maternal mortality as hospital labor and delivery units continue to
close," wrote Consumer Watchdog in a letter supporting AB 1895.
"Pregnant mothers need access to maternity services and for those
services to be located in close proximity to where they live. In an
event of a maternity ward closure, pregnant mothers must be
provided with information and resources so they can plan for where
they deliver their babies."
"We believe that AB 1895's call for the Department of Health
Care Access and the California Department of Public Health to
conduct a community impact assessment to determine that there are
adequate local maternity services in the area and a required public
hearing to provide the public with the opportunity to provide input
and receive information on other resources is a step in the right
direction."
"The labor and delivery unit closures are prevalent in rural and
lower income areas and are deeply impacting minority families and
mothers of a lower socio-economic background. The maternal
mortality crisis in our state is disproportionately impacting these
same communities."
Read the letter.
According to a recent March of Dimes report on the decreased
access to maternity care, labor and delivery unit closures are
linked to a lack of women's health care, lack of prenatal care, and
an increased risk of maternal death.
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SOURCE Consumer Watchdog