Portland, Maine-based MaineHealth has engaged an independent board to review its decision to end labor and delivery services at Lincoln Hospital in Damariscotta, Maine.
The review follows requests from the Maine Legislature, the Miles Delivers Action Coalition and other stakeholders for a neutral, third-party examination of the decision to bring labor and delivery services in the mid-coast region together at one site, a MaineHealth spokesperson told Becker’s.
The five-member panel, which includes experts in maternal health, clinical quality and safety, rural healthcare, workforce, community engagement and operations, will assess whether the data and process MaineHealth used were fair and reasonable, the spokesperson said. It will also evaluate alternative proposals from community members and outside groups using the same criteria. The reviewers alone will determine their findings, according to MaineHealth.
“We are not beginning this review with the assumption that closure or regionalizing is the right answer,” panel member Jeni Stolow, PhD, a public health researcher, said during a Nov. 4 virtual forum, Maine Public reported. “We are also not beginning with the assumption that the unit open is the right answer.”
The panel’s findings will be presented to the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services, the coalition, the MaineHealth board and the public, with a briefing for lawmakers due by Dec. 11. MaineHealth will respond publicly in writing within 30 days of receiving the report, the spokesperson said.
Transition planning will continue during the review. The birthing unit is scheduled to close Dec. 18, Maine Public reported.
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