Warren, Markey, Moulton urge hospital to delay Birth Center closure

Jul. 14—BEVERLY — U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, along with U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, have sent a letter to Beverly Hospital President Tom Sands urging him to delay the planned closure of the North Shore Birth Center and requesting answers about when and why hospital officials made the decision to close the facility.

In a letter sent on Tuesday, the lawmakers asked Sands why hospital officials assured the nurses union during contract negotiations that it would not close the Birth Center, only to announce the planned closure eight days after the union approved a new contract that gave midwives a 27% raise.

"This raises suspicions that if Beverly Hospital made this commitment during bargaining, it misled its employees and did not bargain in good faith," the letter said.

Beverly Hospital officials announced in May that they plan to close the North Shore Birth Center on Sept. 8. The decision sparked a campaign that has included a rally outside the hospital and an online petition with more than 3,000 signatures. A state-mandated public meeting on the closure is scheduled for Wednesday, July 20, at 6 p.m. at the Vittori-Rocci Post in Beverly.

In their letter, Warren, Markey and Moulton asked Sands to respond to several questions by Aug. 11, including asking for an exact date when the hospital began internal discussions about closing the Birth Center. If the date was before May 3, when the new contract was approved, they asked why the hospital assured the Massachusetts Nurses Association during negotiations that the center would not close. If it was after May 3, why did the hospital make the decision in such a short time frame, given that the closure was announced on May 11, the lawmakers asked.

The letter also asked if the hospital considered other options to closing, and what options currently exist to keep the center open. It also requested data comparing the average cost of labor and delivery services for a birth at the Birth Center and Beverly Hospital, and on the number of maternal deaths and major complications per 100,000 live births that occurred separately at the two locations since Jan. 1, 2009.

The North Shore Birth Center opened in 1980 as a free-standing facility on the Beverly Hospital campus. It is staffed by midwives and has helped deliver nearly 10,000 babies. Beverly Hospital, which is owned by Beth Israel Lahey Health, has said it cannot continue to operate the center due to a shortage of midwives. But the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which has filed an unfair labor practice over the decision to close the center, has said the 27% raise under the new contract was specifically designed to recruit and retain the staff needed to keep it open.

Warren, Markey and Moulton wrote that the hospital's decision to close the Birth Center almost immediately after agreeing on a new contract "casts doubt on whether leadership ever intended to effectuate the negotiated wage increases." They also said the decision "may more likely to be driven by profit-seeking than staffing shortages."

The letter said the Birth Center's closing would particularly impact Black and Indigenous women, who face disproportionate rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. Black women in Massachusetts are almost twice as likely as white women to die during pregnancy or one year postpartum, the letter said, citing Massachusetts Department of Public Health statistics.

"The Birth Center is thus an essential resource for women of color in North Shore communities like Salem and Lynn who are seeking nearby midwifery care," he letter said.

Sands, who is also president of Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, said in an email to The Salem News that hospital officials appreciate Warren, Markey and Moulton's "engagement" and "share their dedication to assuring that our community has access to high quality women's health services."

"We look forward to continuing our dialogue with them about the care and services Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals provide to our communities," Sands said.

Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@gloucestertimes.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.

Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@gloucestertimes.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.