Vigil tonight marking anniversary of maternity unit closure

Michelle Warren, The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
·2 min read

Nov. 14—WILLIMANTIC — A vigil is being held Monday in recognition of the oneyear anniversary of a public hearing about the closure of the Windham Community Memorial Hospital maternity unit.

The flashlight vigil is being held by the Windham United to Save Our HealthCare Coalition from 4: 30 p. m. to 6 p. m. at the corner of Jackson and Main streets in Willimantic.

The coalition has been advocating for the maternity unit to be re- opened, citing several concerns, including concerns about transportation times to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich and other hospitals. "I'm hoping that healthcare justice prevails," coalition leader Brenda Buchbinder said.

She said if the maternity unit was re- opened, it would be the first step to " restore" Windham Hospital. Buchbinder said it is also important to bring the intensive care unit and bring back the local board of directors. " We have a regional community council that's a mix of ( The William W.) Backus(Hospital) and Windham ( Hospital)," she said.

Hartford HealthCare East Region Marketing and Communications Manager Ken Harrison could not be reached for comment by presstime.

Hartford HealthCare has said it shut down the maternity unit due to staffing challenges and a low birth rate. In its certificate of need application, which was filed with the state Office of Health Strategy, Hartford HealthCare said from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2019, the number of births declined by 285, a 75 percent drop. According to Hartford HealthCare, there were only 99 births in 2019.

The maternity unit closed without a certificate of need in July 2020.

Under state law, a certificate of need is required prior to a hospital making major changes, such as shutting down the maternity unit.

Hartford HealthCare did not apply for a certificate of need through OHS until Sept. 3, 2020. OHS fined Hartford HealthCare $65,000, a fine that was reduced from the original fine, for closing the maternity unit prior to receiving regulatory approval.

OHS denied Hartford HealthCare's appeal of the fine on Aug. 12.

On July 5, the Office of HealthCare Strategy issued a proposed final decision that Hartford Healthcare failed to meet six of eight criteria to permanently close the maternity unit.

On Sept. 23, OHS denied Hartford HealthCare's request to re- open the public hearing record, noting that the "proposed new evidence was either available at the time of the hearing, is cumulative of evidence already in the record and/ or it does not materially affect the merits of the case."

Hartford HealthCare's attorney, Jennifer Fusco, submitted the following as " new evidence," among other information:

—A report from Becker's Hospital Review, a national hospital magazine, showed that from March to June 2022, 11 hospitals temporarily or permanently ended maternity services for reasons including low birth volume, an inability to maintain provider competencies and staffing issues.

According to a submission by Fusco, this shows that the hospital's inability

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