Save the Calais Regional Hospital OB Unit.

How far should women and their children have to travel for OG/GYN healthcare if you live in rural Washington County, Maine?  The answer beginning January 1, 2018, is a terrifying prospect for area families.  Additionally, many worry a recent hospital management decision will damage future economic development in Calais for years to come. The subsidiary spin-off of Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) called Quorum Health Corporation (NYSE: QHC) has managed Calais Regional Hospital since 1992 gradually reducing healthcare services over time. This latest decision,  closure of the Calais Hospital’s OB Unit, comes hot on the heels of major stock losses for the company (75% stock loss after the U.S. Presidential election in November.) A quick Google search reveals that Quorum Health has been the subject of considerable legal action over the last decade. Many believe the reduction of services in their managed rural hospitals is simply a mechanism used to pay down its large debt. By eliminating costs associated with departments and services, they are able to retain the majority of their management fees, reduce costs for both parties, and pay down stock losses.  This is also not the first time that decisions were made to cut services affecting patient safety at this hospital.  More information can be found in this Quoddy Tides article from 2014. The out-of-state management firm is based in Tennessee. Calais Regional Hospital pays roughly one million dollars a year to Quorum Health, $400,000 in management fees and the remainder in executive salaries per year. Health care decisions where profits are placed over patient safety are most likely the largest contributing factor for increases in infant and maternal mortality rates in rural communities. According to the March of Dimes: “Infant mortality is defined as death occurring during the first year of life and is an important summary reflecting social, political, health care delivery and medical outcomes in a geographic area. In Maine in 2013, 91 infants died before reaching their first birthday, an infant mortality rate of 7.1 per 1,000 live births. Between 2003 and 2013, the infant mortality rate in Maine increased more than 39%. Some of the leading causes of infant death in the United States include the following: birth defects; prematurity/low birthweight; sudden infant death syndrome; maternal complications of pregnancy and respiratory distress syndrome.  In Maine in 2006, the rate of perinatal mortality was 5.7 per 1,000 live births and fetal deaths.” Will the money saved by closing the OB Unit be used to pay down Quorum debt? Answers to questions like these seem to be shrouded in secrecy.  Calls to the Hospital’s Community Relations Department on Thursday and Friday resulted in an answering machine and a public appearance by the CEO at a May 25th City Council Meeting, resulted in a no-show. Washington County residents are galvanizing around the issue of saving the OB Unit.  The Maine State Nurse’s Association has issued a statement deriding the decision as “very serious” and “dangerous”. Healthcare providers have organized candlelight vigils to raise awareness. National media attention is expected to follow due to the recent trend to cut women’s health care in favor of corporate profits. The newly formed Coalition for Healthy Washington County Families, made up of concerned area residents has started an online petition to demonstrate public support for saving the OB Unit. Today, many area residents believe the answer to keeping the OB Unit open lies in severing the relationship with Quorum Health altogether.  Downeast Community Hospital might serve as one model that Calais Regional Hospital can emulate.  As residents dig into prior healthcare fights with Quorum health, there’s a common theme that is hard to ignore.  Quorum Health consistently reduces services in rural hospitals over time. If this recent decision by the Calais Hospital’s Board, CEO, and Quorum is not reversed, Downeast Community Hospital stands to be the only Washington County hospital able to accept OB/GYN patients in 2018. Regardless of Quorum’s fate in Calais, the Regional Hospital’s Board of Directors and its CEO, Rod Boula, are going to have to answer to the community for this decision.  The Calais City Council have unanimously voted to issue a statement of “no confidence” in the Hospital Board of Directors and other municipal organizations are expected to follow suit in the coming days and weeks.  Calls for resignation are growing. According to Calais Regional Hospital, the hospital serves “Northeastern Washington County with an approximate population of 14,000 from Topsfield to the North, Wesley to the West and Eastport to the south.” Topsfield to Machias is roughly a one and a half hour drive.