Letters to the Editor
Med staff rap Leominster maternity ward closing
We are greatly concerned about the detrimental effect that the closure of the Labor and Delivery Unit at UMass HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital in Leominster will have on our patients. As a pediatric practice providing care in North Worcester County for the past 50 years, we have seen many changes in our communities and in the services available to our patients over time, but the closure of the local maternity unit will have the largest negative impact on the health of the infants and mothers that we care for.
There are significant data showing the negative effects on the health of both infants and their mothers when women have to travel to deliver their babies. Women who have to travel 30 minutes or more, babies have been found to have increased risk of fetal heart rate anomalies, meconium-stained amniotic fluid, out-of-hospital births, and prolonged hospitalizations, resulting in a potentially increased risk of perinatal and maternal mortality. It has been shown that the closure of labor and delivery units in rural areas disproportionately affects women on Medicaid, leading to decreased prenatal care, and that having to travel for prenatal care increases the stress and anxiety of expecting mothers· Maternal stress can have a significant impact on both the mother and on fetal development.
We understand the financial realities as well as the staffing challenges involved with running the Labor and Delivery Unit at UMass HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital, but this is an essential service to our communities, and closing it will have a significant and detrimental impact on the health of the children and mothers that we serve.
We are thus requesting the administration and the Board of Trustees of UMass Memorial Hospital to reconsider their decision and work to find ways to keep the labor and delivery unit in Leominster open.
Theresa Callahan, MD, FAAP, Fernando Catalina, MD, PhD, FAAP, Ingrid Cruse, MD, FAAP, Sejal Daga, MD, FAAP, Amanda Diffin, PA-C, Nicole Hersel, CPNP, Michael Lyons, MD, FAAP, Amanda Molter, CNM, PNP, Charles Myers, MD, FAAP, Seth Myers, MD, Lisa Staiti, MSN, CPNP, Tammy Zaruba, MSN, CPNP
Medical Associates Pediatrics, Leominster
US must stand strong against Putin
America must support Ukraine in its goal to defeat Putin in his war against them. Putin’s war has killed more than 1,000 children. Let that fact sink in: More than 1,000 children and countless nonmilitary people have been killed by Russia in Putin’s war. Putin lives in a world where dictators take over countries and eliminate democracies. The U.S. defeated that world in World War II along with its Japanese and German dictators. Today Germany and Japan are major U.S. allies. After Putin, Russia may become an ally also.
Putin’s only chance to win in Ukraine is if the United States and NATO lose their resolve to provide vastly superior Western weapons. Americans, Republicans and Democrats, must hold true to the American value that all countries have the right to determine their own way of life without foreign influence. Putin is running out of winning options. His infantry suffered 200,000-plus casualties and is bogged down in war year two. Putin expected victory within weeks. NATO from Poland to England is united against him, his Russian draft caused millions of educated Russians to leave the country. He needs to recruit prisoners and pay militia into his infantry. Russians are starting to sabotage war efforts inside Russia. When Ukraine pilots start flying US F-16 jets, Putin’s days in Ukraine will be numbered.
If American resolve stays strong and united, Putin will find out, as Nazi Germany, Japan and Iraq did, his defeat, at the hands of U.S.-supplied weapons, is only a matter of time.
Frank Genese
Worcester
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Letters to the Editor
