Houlton (Maine) Regional Hospital has shared plans to close its inpatient labor and delivery unit, effective May 2.
“Over the past several years, like many rural hospitals in Maine and across the nation, we have watched our labor and delivery unit volume steadily decline, and although our nurses and our providers have gone above and beyond to maintain this service, our volumes are making it impossible to do so,” said an April 3 post on the hospital’s Facebook page.
The 25-bed acute care hospital plans to work with expectant mothers to connect them with obstetric services at “facilities of their choosing,” the post said.
Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, part of National Nurses United, said in an April 8 news release that Houlton Regional nurses were informed of the closure the week of March 31 and called the decision “disastrous” for patients.
NNU represents nearly 70 nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital and will hold a town hall April 9 to discuss the closure, the release said.
