Public Comments Critical of Plan to Reduce Nursery Services at Framingham Union Hospital

FRAMINGHAM - Local residents, nurses, and officials criticized the plan to reduce nursery services at Framingham Union Hospital during a public hearing at the Memorial Building on Wednesday, April 9.

Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky informed City Council members back in February about the plans from Tenet Healthcare, the Texas-based company that owns and operates MetroWest Medical Center, to close the Level IIB nursery at the local hospital. Sisitsky was also told that the organization would not be renewing the lease of the MetroWest Wellness Center along Route 9 after it expires in July; most services at that site are reportedly set to be relocated to either Framingham Union Hospital or MetroWest Medical Center’s building along Lincoln Street.

Level IIB nurseries offer special, advanced care for newborns and their families; premature and retro-transferred infants, along with those with other pregnancy complications, are some of the cases treated at facilities with that designation. Tenet’s current plans would make the nursery at Framingham Union Hospital a Level IA ward, which offers basic nursery care.

The closure of the local Level IIB ward is set for June, though the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) requires that a public hearing must be held beforehand. Sisitsky requested that the hearing take place within Framingham instead of Boston, and state officials obliged.

The DPH will review public comments, along with the current state of the hospital’s services and other relevant information, before determining if the nursery is an essential service to the community. However, the DPH does not currently have the authority to prevent Tenet’s decision to halt Level IIB services.

CEO for Tenet’s Massachusetts market Denten Park called the transition to a Level IA nursery a “blessing” as other maternity wards across the country close. He contended that keeping a nursery in Framingham is pivotal as the company makes investments in the local medical center going forward amid nationwide anxieties related to healthcare.

“We certainly recognize that and want to be available as much as possible to meet the needs and demands of our community,” Park said at the Memorial Building on Wednesday, “and we’ll do everything we possibly can to continue to move forward on making and keeping commitments to the necessary services that are here.”

Still, comments on Wednesday from residents, healthcare workers, and politicians from the local and state levels regarding Tenet’s plan were overwhelmingly negative. Points raised to state health officials at Nevins Hall included concerns about a potential gap in resources for those who represent Framingham’s demographics, a perceived lack of care for the community from Tenet leadership as MetroWest Medical Center’s reputation drops, continued morale dips among staff at the hospital, as well as issues with accessibility and capacity at other nursery facilities in places like Boston and Worcester. Multiple speakers expressed their belief that transportation to and from advanced nurseries—or lack thereof—for both local families as well as essential on-call workers would become a problem if the Level IIB nursery in Framingham were to close.

Sisitsky called this situation a matter of ethics, while 6th Middlesex District State Representative Priscila Sousa believes that this decision is the next step towards shuttering maternity care at MetroWest Medical Center entirely, similar to what other facilities in Massachusetts have seen in recent years. She referred to the plan as the “canary in the coal mine.”

“Our economic mobility here, for a very diverse community, depends on proper access to healthcare,” Sousa continued.

“We need to tell (Tenet); we need everyone to know how important this hospital is to us.”

During the hearing, city officials and healthcare workers called for at least a Level IIA or Level IB designation at Framingham Union Hospital. At Level IB, the hospital would be able to have at least one in-house advanced practice provider available to assist at any time. Opponents of Tenet’s planned change said downgrading the facility to Level IA could put families with birth complications in danger due to on-call practitioners potentially being located far away from the city.

“(Tenet owes) it to this community, to (their) nurses, and to (their) staff not to dismantle the labor and delivery department at the hospital for the most vulnerable in our community: babies…It’s an ICU for our most vulnerable,” District 6 City Councilor and Chair of the legislative body Phil Ottaviani said on Wednesday.

Attendees at the Memorial Building this week called upon Tenet to support the work put in by doctors and nurses at MetroWest Medical Center.

“As MetroWest nurses, our central question is: why such an extreme downgrade,” local maternity unit nurse Rebecca Cashman asked.

“We have the space, the equipment, and the knowledge—not to mention the passion—to provide this care for our local community. Retaining at least a Level IB status would allow us to continue to take care of our own vulnerable newborn patients.”

The DPH will make a determination on how essential the local nursery is within 15 days of Wednesday’s public hearing.