Oregon regulators have denied Legacy Health’s request to close its birthing center at Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham, finding that the closure could endanger pregnant patients and their babies.
The decision escalates a high-stakes standoff, since Legacy went ahead with the shutdown two weeks ago even without approval from the Oregon Health Authority. Legacy said too many of the birthing center’s employees had quit to resume normal operations.
The health authority wields a heavy hammer. If a healthcare facility is found to be out of compliance with its state license, they have 90 days to return to compliance or risk losing their ability to bill Medicare or Medicaid, which would be financially devastating.
Legacy officials said they “respect the state’s authority in this decision” and will work with regulators “to determine our next steps.” In the meantime, the Mount Hood birthing center will remain on “divert” status , meaning it will ship women in delivery to other hospitals “due to lack adequate staffing to provide safe patient care.”
In a statement, the Oregon Nurses Association lauded the regulators’ denial. The decision “is not only the right thing to do,” the union said, “it also gives Legacy yet another opportunity to step up and do the right thing for the people of East Multnomah County.”
The health authority noted that before its closure, Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center served more women seeking urgent obstetrical care than any other hospital in the Legacy system. More of its patients are poor, with limited English and fewer prenatal doctor’s appointments.
“Eliminating access to delivery services in the area would not meet these patients’ needs and could result in more complications and premature deliveries and worsen health inequities,” the agency said in a written statement.
It was not swayed by Legacy’s plan to transfer patients in labor by ambulance or helicopter to its Randall Children’s Hospital, nearly 17 miles away in Portland, or to have obstetricians available by video link.
The Oregon Health Authority has also opened an investigation into the hospital chain’s closure of the birthing center without obtaining the required waiver from the state.
Legacy officials have said they had no intention of closing the Mount Hood birth center. It wanted to restructure and cut costs, in part by ending the 24-hour presence of an obstetrician.
Several of the birthing center’s doctors quickly resigned. Legacy said previously that at that point it had no alternative but to close it down for lack of adequate staffing.
The closure plan drew criticism from Legacy nurses, doctors and other caregivers, as well as state and local elected officials.
-- Jeff Manning; jmanning@oregonian.com
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