Concerns have been mounting in the Belfast area in recent weeks about the possibility that the maternity ward could be closed at Waldo County General Hospital.
Since hospital administrators announced earlier this summer that they’re reviewing the facility’s obstetrics services amid declining births and difficulty finding staff, residents and local officials have delivered hours of public comment about the importance of those services to the community.
That testimony culminated in a two-hour public forum hosted by the hospital Wednesday night that was attended by more than 200 people, including 38 who spoke out against cuts in services. They have raised concern both for the parents and children who rely on those services and the larger ability of the community to attract or retain young families.
“I’m having my baby in Belfast, and I think it should stay,” Mary Weiss, a 29-year-old Belfast resident, said.
While several other Maine hospitals have cut or reduced their maternity services in recent years, it’s less common for communities to weigh in so heavily about the chance it could happen.
The review of those services in Belfast has also stood out because many of the Maine hospitals that have reduced their obstetrics are in rural communities with declining populations, such as Calais, Rumford and Lincoln. However, at least two hospitals in growing communities — York and Bridgton — have also done so. Belfast’s population grew by an estimated 4 percent between the 2010 and 2020 U.S. Census surveys.
Waldo County General Hospital officials did not respond to the concerns raised by residents during the forum on Wednesday, but a night earlier, hospital president Denise Needham appeared at a Belfast City Council meeting to provide more information about the review.
Needham, who is also president of Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport, said the board of the Belfast facility expects to make a recommendation in early September on the future of its obstetrics services. That recommendation will then go to the hospital’s parent organization, Portland-based MaineHealth, for any final decisions.
Needham told councilors that the closure of the maternity ward would be a last resort that’s only considered after all other options had been exhausted.
Needham said the hospital is projected to have 112 births in the current fiscal year, which ends after September. She said that any number of births below 200 is considered lower than national benchmarks. She said that the low number of births can affect the competency of staff, since they have few opportunities to exercise their skills, and noted that one staffer who is critical to the program — a pediatrician — has just given notice of their resignation.
An obstetrics program requires pediatricians, obstetricians, certified nurse midwives, anesthesiologists, labor and delivery nurses, and a full complement of operating room personnel, all of which are in short supply across the industry, especially in rural areas, Needham said.
“We also recognize this conversation is incredibly anxiety-inducing, particularly for our expectant mothers,” she said. “The discussion is not one to be a reduction in services, but rather envisioning how we can redesign the service in our community to provide the highest quality of care as close to home as possible.”
The forum on Wednesday night was a continuation of the heated discussion about the future of the hospital’s birthing services that has happened at multiple meetings of the City Council in recent weeks. After hearing testimony from several concerned residents, the council voted 5-1 on July 16 to write an official letter opposing any potential shutdown of the maternity ward.
One of the speakers on Wednesday night was Kate Bailey of Northport, 39, who described herself as a “geriatric” mother who had her son at the Belfast hospital last October — one of just four births the hospital says happened there that month. Bailey’s son, Rowan, is now nine months old.
“I had a 20-plus hour labor, and at 3 a.m., this amazing team of amazing people assembled like the Avengers and helped me get through it,” Bailey said. “I may not have survived anywhere else. No offense to Bangor, but the care here is so much better. ”