Hospital Maternity Wards Are Closing Across U.S.
source: http://womensenews.org/story/medicine/110120/hospital-maternity-wards-are-closing-across-us
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In August 2009 more than 100 people, mainly woman, gathered in the parking lot of Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital in Wadsworth, Ohio--a town of 20,000 in the northeast part of the state--to protest the threatened closing of the maternity ward there. Two months later it was gone.
Fast forward to December 2010 and another crowd of about 100, most of them nurses working at the John C. Lincoln Hospital in Phoenix. They were rallying in front of the hospital to stop the closure of the obstetric unit there. Most of those nurses will be out of work in early February, when the hospital proceeds with plans to close its birthing facilities.
The number of maternity wards that are closing across the country are hard to track. But a Google Internet search shows the flashing lights of protests and outcries in numerous U.S. communities. From New Jersey to Washington state, in urban and rural areas, maternity services are at risk. In 2008, about 4.2 million infants were born in the U.S., down slightly from the 4.3 million the year before--not a sufficient number to explain the closings.
Major explanations are high medical malpractice premiums in this specialty and a rising dependence on Medicaid reimbursement, which cover, on average, 88 percent of the actual costs.
Read more about this on Women's eNews http://womensenews.org/story/medicine/110120/hospital-maternity-wards-are-closin...
Fast forward to December 2010 and another crowd of about 100, most of them nurses working at the John C. Lincoln Hospital in Phoenix. They were rallying in front of the hospital to stop the closure of the obstetric unit there. Most of those nurses will be out of work in early February, when the hospital proceeds with plans to close its birthing facilities.
The number of maternity wards that are closing across the country are hard to track. But a Google Internet search shows the flashing lights of protests and outcries in numerous U.S. communities. From New Jersey to Washington state, in urban and rural areas, maternity services are at risk. In 2008, about 4.2 million infants were born in the U.S., down slightly from the 4.3 million the year before--not a sufficient number to explain the closings.
Major explanations are high medical malpractice premiums in this specialty and a rising dependence on Medicaid reimbursement, which cover, on average, 88 percent of the actual costs.
Read more about this on Women's eNews http://womensenews.org/story/medicine/110120/hospital-maternity-wards-are-closin...
