New Hampshire physician will probe why state’s rural maternity care units are closing

Timothy Fisher, MD, obstetrician and gynecologist at Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system will conduct a three-year investigation into why nine rural New Hampshire hospitals have closed maternity care units.

Advertisement

The study is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation  in partnership with the Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network. Dr. Fisher and  Sarah Benatar, PhD, and Stacey McMorrow, PhD, both from Washington D.C.-based Urban Institute with experience in studying patterns within women’s healthcare, will do the study together.

It aims to address the effect of hospital-based maternity wards closing in New Hampshire and to see whether there are any reasonable strategies to counteract them.

“More than half of all U.S. counties do not have OB/GYN doctors to serve pregnant women,” Dr. Fisher said. “It’s important that we have the resources in every county to support the care and education of women where they live.”

More articles on patient flow:

30% of hospitals have violated EMTALA, investigation finds
Steward to reopen Arizona hospital
2 Ohio hospitals cleared after bomb threats

Advertisement

Next Up in Public Health

Advertisement

Comments are closed.