Hartford HealthCare received state approval Friday to move ahead with a plan to officially terminate labor and delivery services at Windham Hospital, more than three years after a decision to discontinue the services sparked community opposition.
In an eight-page final decision, the Office of Health Strategy granted the hospital permission to terminate its in-patient obstetrics services, provided it complied with the terms of a settlement.
The plan includes requirements that the hospital continue to offer prenatal and postpartum care, transportation for birthing parents, and commission an independent study of the feasibility of creating a birthing center to serve parents in the Windham area.
If a birthing center is deemed necessary and feasible, the settlement requires the hospital to operate a center through a non-hospital affiliate or help identify a suitable provider.
In a press release, OHS Executive Director Dr. Deidre Gifford said the settlement would ensure that the closure would not compromise the health of birthing parents.
“The conditions will allow for a safe and patient focused experience, ensuring that Windham residents have continued access to prenatal and postpartum services though the Windham Women’s Health Clinic, through free emergent and non-emergent transportation for the birthing parent and their support companion to the hospital of their choice, and access to the nurse visiting program post childbirth through the Family Bridge pilot program,” Gifford said.
The agreement requires Hartford HealthCare to maintain its labor and delivery services as well as its newborn nursery at Backus Hospital, located in Norwich, about 16 miles from the Windham facility. The settlement also requires Backus to expand its nursery facilities over time.
“Our ongoing programs include transportation, a nurse navigator program to coordinate care, and access to childbirth at Backus Hospital, with its award-winning maternity services and upgraded NICU,” Donna Handley, president of Windham and Backus Hospitals, said in a press release. “We look forward to establishing a training program for certified doulas, and to working with the state and other partners in providing the safest care possible.”
Windham first suspended its maternity ward in 2020 before filing an application to discontinue the services with the state through a process called a “certificate of need.” It is currently one of three hospitals seeking regulatory approval to discontinue its labor and delivery unit. The others are Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford and Sharon Hospital in the state’s northwest corner.
Friday’s decision comes more than a year after an OHS hearing officer proposed a final decision to deny the closure of Windham’s maternity unit. That proposed decision was met with applause from labor and community activists who had rallied to save the unit as well as Attorney General William Tong.
In a statement Monday, John Brady, a registered nurse who serves as vice president of AFT Connecticut, said the decision recognized the responsibility of hospital networks to continue supporting patients but also highlighted shortcomings in the state’s certificate of need process.
“This decision, although not everything our members had hoped for, establishes that a health chain cannot just walk away from its responsibility to the community in which it operates,” Brady said. “It also illustrates why we need to reform Connecticut’s Certificate of Need laws and establish a ‘no shovels in the ground’ approach. Executives should not be allowed to terminate care or services before receiving regulatory approval.”
Meanwhile, advocates with Windham United to Save our Healthcare released a statement saying the agreement did not let Hartford HealthCare “off the hook” for providing care for Windham area mothers and children.
“Still, it is far short of the full restoration of the hospital’s maternity services our coalition has been demanding for the past three years,” the group said. “Allowing HHC to get away with feigning forgiveness – instead of seeking permission – for cutting moms’ and babies’ vital care is an insult to our underserved community. The equity issues our advocates have consistently raised in regulatory, legislative and public hearings and forums remain.”
