The state Office of Health Strategy must grant Sharon Hospital a certificate of need for the closure before it can proceed.
Mr. Tong acknowledged that the hospital is facing financial and staffing challenges. However, he urged that decisions about the closure be balanced with community needs.
“Before requiring parents without transportation to travel 25+ miles to another labor and delivery unit, asking a mother in active labor to travel to travel 40 minutes or more for maternity services, perhaps paying thousands of dollars for emergency transport, or asking a family living paycheck to paycheck to pay thousands of dollars for out-of-network care, the applicant should demonstrate that there is a clear public need for the proposal,” Mr. Tong said in a Dec. 6 press release from his office.
Willimantic, Conn.-based Windham Hospital and Stafford Springs, Conn.-based Johnson Memorial Hospital have also closed their maternity wards.
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