‘This is a disaster’: Protesters target closing of St. Joe unit
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WARREN – What will happen when a woman who lives in or near Warren is about to have a baby, but has nowhere nearby for the delivery?
That is a scenario that greatly worries Dr. Amine Abdul-Aal.
“This is a disaster for the community … It’s a public health emergency,” Abdul-Aal, one of two OB-GYNs at St. Joseph Warren Hospital, said.
He was referring to Mercy Health’s decision to consolidate services via closing the labor and delivery unit at Warren’s only hospital.
The unit could close Dec. 7, though Dec. 2 is the final day in which such patients can be admitted electively, he noted.
To express his concerns, Abdul-Aal joined more than 50 elected officials, healthcare providers and others for a peaceful rally Saturday afternoon to protest Mercy Health’s decision to close the department, a move, many at the rally said, will mean longer commutes to St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital as well as facilities in Farrell, Pa., and in the Cleveland area for women about to give birth.
The company defended its decision to close the unit, which will end hospital deliveries that began generations ago.
“Mercy Health is enhancing maternity care in the Mahoning Valley by integrating labor and delivery services at Mercy Health-St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital, creating additional capacity and greater access to advanced maternal and newborn care for families throughout the region,” the healthcare business stated in a news release late last month. “This enhanced model combines the strengths of the region’s existing maternity programs and centralizes deliveries at a location equipped with advanced clinical resources, including maternal-fetal medicine specialists and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit in partnership with Akron Children’s Hospital.”
Compounding the transportation problem for Trumbull County women who are in labor could be having to face snow- or ice-covered roads in winter, a situation that would add travel time to Boardman or elsewhere, Hollie Champ, rally organizer, said.
“What happens to those women? That’s the million dollar question we all want to know,” said Champ, a registered nurse at UPMC Hospital in Farrell who also worked about three years as a surgical technician at St. Joseph Warren Hospital.
“This is important to everybody in (Trumbull) County,” she added.
Pregnant women are unable to be taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital because that facility closed its labor and delivery unit in the early 2000s, Champ said, adding that she hopes Mercy Health will reverse its decision.
“It’s not a luxury, but a vital service,” Trumbull County Commissioner-elect Kristen Rock said about the labor and delivery unit, adding that she’s “hopeful, optimistic and confident” that the larger community can reach a resolution.
In some instances, emergency doctors may be called to make deliveries, she added.
“We’re becoming a hospital desert,” Warren city Councilman Michael Shrodek, D-5th Ward, said.
St. Joseph Warren Hospital is in Shrodek’s ward.
The unit’s closure, however, won’t just affect the immediate area, but likely will be a countywide burden, he said, noting that another potential problem the move may create is placing an added strain on the Boardman hospital’s maternity and related resources. Last year, 3,400 deliveries took place there, with an estimated 1,000 at the Warren hospital, Shrodek explained.
“I don’t know if Boardman will be able to handle that,” he said, adding, “This is another blow.”
Late last month, Warren Mayor Doug Franklin spoke against Mercy Health’s move to close the labor and delivery unit, via expressing his concern regarding travel times for women in labor to other hospitals – especially in the event of inclement winter weather. Franklin added that his primary concern is the welfare of women about to give birth and their families.
“It’s really disturbing to me – 30 or 40 minutes down Route 11, (Interstate) 680, perhaps during a snowstorm, maybe expectant mothers in labor,” the mayor said in describing the likely route to St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital. “That just concerns me deeply, and I’m sure it concerns all of you.”
Abdul-Aal explained that different protocols are in place for pregnant women who are deemed unstable, as opposed to stable. Those considered unstable often are fully dilated, have extended elevated blood pressures and are in advanced premature labor; women who are stable typically are in early labor and have minimal dilation, and can be transported by ambulance, he said.
Another potential hardship the decision to close the labor and delivery unit centers on the diverse types of patients who need what it offers, Abdul-Aal said, noting that some women are morbidly obese, have chronic high blood pressure and use drugs. In addition, others come from Amish communities as far away as Ashtabula County, he added.
In addition, the population of Warren and surrounding areas is, by and large, not wealthy, and many women depend largely on public transportation, Abdul-Aal continued.
Others who braved temperatures in the mid-40s with wind and intermittent drizzle to attend Saturday’s rally included Haley Locklair, 28, of Kinsman, and Zoie Durig, 30, of Cortland, both of whom said they were there to show their support and denounce Mercy Health’s decision.
The two women held a large beige sign that read, “We aren’t just fighting for a hospital department. We are fighting for lives. Every second counts, every life matters. Don’t leave our mothers and babies without safe options.”