LEGACY MT. HOOD CONTROVERSY

In March, Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center closed its birth center, citing staff shortages and financial losses. Announcement of this move in January immediately sparked widespread controversy within the greater Gresham and East Multnomah County community for several reasons.

Now, after heavy opposition from state and local lawmakers and health advocates, the hospital has reversed course – and the center will reopen by this summer.

One reason for the controversy is that when the hospital closed its birth center on March 17, it had not obtained the necessary approval from the Oregon Health Authority. Oregon requires all general hospitals, such as Legacy Mount Hood, to provide maternity services. Hospitals are allowed to request this requirement be waived; however, Legacy Mount Hood closed its birth center without obtaining any such waiver.

This abrupt closure opened the possibility of government sanctions against the hospital.

Meantime, the closure diverted maternity patients within the Legacy Health system to Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland (adjacent to Emanuel Hospital), nearly 20 miles away. The sudden influx of patients caused by the closure overwhelmed Randall’s birth center, which was then forced to divert many maternity patients to other hospitals. Many people were concerned that these diversions could pose a substantial risk to the safety of the pregnant women and their babies.

Several Gresham legislators publicly opposed the closure. State Representative Zach Hudson, who represents the district where the hospital is located, said, “We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the closure of this vital community resource. This birth center is a necessary service for our constituents, and it is irresponsible to burden people in labor (imminent childbirth) to drive even longer distances to reach health services.”

The controversy drew a protest of about 200 people outside of Legacy Mount Hood in February. At the protest, Dr. Mary Afsari-Howard, who works at Legacy Mount Hood, spoke to the crowd. As reported in the healthcare newsletter The Lund Report, she said, “Our team is not replaceable. This department is not expendable. East County lives matter. East County families matter. One life in danger is too many. One baby in distress is too many. One mother unable to get the help she needs is too many.”

The backlash quickly accumulated enough that Legacy Mount Hood backpedaled on the closure, announcing April 12 that it would reopen its birth center within 90 days.

The about-face decision came a little under a month the services had ended on March 17. Legacy officials conceded the closure had been a mistake.

Legacy Health’s Senior Vice President, Jonathan Avery, released a statement reaffirming the system’s commitment to the community. “[W]e want to apologize for the stress, confusion, and disruption caused by the situation at our Mount Hood Family Birth Center,” the statement reads. “We understand the impact it has had on our employees, providers, and most importantly, our patients. Now, it is our goal to rebuild trust as we move forward together.”

But the damage done won’t be easy to fix. The hospital (and system) has possibly lost a great deal of trust from the community due to this ordeal.

According to one media report, a nurse at Legacy Mount Hood said, “It’s been a very devastating, traumatic part of my career and my development as a professional … I think that Legacy still has a lot of accountability to (improve).”