A North Texas hospital plans to discontinue its labor and delivery services, but some community members are protesting the decision.
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne, located roughly 32 miles south of Fort Worth, announced that its labor and delivery (L&D) services would end at 5 p.m. on August 30.
“After careful consideration, the low number of deliveries led to this decision, but we will still provide gynecological care and surgery at the hospital,” said Kimberly Walton, Texas Health director of media relations and issues management.
The L&D unit’s employees were notified of the closure earlier this month, and Texas Health will work with them to find other positions in the hospital system.
“We have also reached out to pregnant patients planning to deliver their babies at Texas Health Cleburne and will provide them extra support,” Walton added.
“And, of course, Texas Health Cleburne will continue to care for expectant moms who need emergency care,” the hospital stated on its webpage.
News of the closure of the only L&D unit for miles around has not sat well with some members of the community, including Betty Smith, who created a petition to protest the decision made by corporate officers.
“This will not only affect Johnson County but other counties that surround, as all the hospital options that will remain are a significant distance from most of these small towns that surround Cleburne,” Smith said, per the petition website. “This also highly impacts not only the community but also the staff of Texas Health Cleburne L&D.”
“This is a very important resource that has been taken away. Awareness needs to be made to make it known the crucial impact this poor decision will leave the growing population that is Johnson County,” Smith added.
So far, the petition has garnered more than 1,598 signatures since it was started on July 11.
Brandi Gregg spoke with The Dallas Express to express her concern about the loss of these services and her special connection to the Ann Marti Schmidt Women and Infants’ Services Unit at the Cleburne Hospital. Schmidt was Gregg’s mother.
Gregg told DX that Schmidt was an OBGYN in Cleburne for many years and an advocate for quality healthcare for women in the rural communities around Johnson County.
Following her death in 1999, friends, community members, and family — including Gregg’s father — donated to the hospital wing in Schmidt’s name, helping it to become a top-notch facility for women to deliver their babies.
“This hospital is known for their labor and delivery unit. It is why people go to Cleburne Hospital,” Gregg shared. “Without this unit, women and babies will die. There is not always an extra 20-35 minutes to get to the other hospitals.”
Gregg added that her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews were born at the facility.
“It’s a resource that, if eliminated, will be disastrous. There are thousands of new homes being built in the area. Who buys the new homes? Families. Who has a need for labor and delivery services? The families who are going to occupy these homes,” Gregg said.
“Also, the nurses there are unmatched,” she told DX. “I am sick to my guts. I hope and pray that this campaign to keep the L&D unit open will raise some concern, and the people in charge will take into consideration that this closing is such a health concern for the women in our community.”
Ashely Blythe, a concerned community member who signed the petition, explained that the doctors and staff at this labor and delivery unit saved her life. When pregnant with her second son, Blythe faced a serious emergency, causing her to hemorrhage.
“Had this l&d not been here, I would have died along with my unborn son on the way to any other hospital. My main doctor is in Mansfield and I would have never made it there,” Blythe commented on the petition. “It’s important that this department stay open as it could mean life or death for another woman and her unborn child.”
After the closure of the Cleburne L&D unit, the next closest option for many mothers in Johnson County will be the Texas Health Hospital in Mansfield, which is roughly 25 miles northeast of Cleburne.
“Every woman has the right to proper prenatal care within a reason[able] amount of time from their home. Could you imagine what could go wrong if a L&D is 45+ mins away?!” AJ Gifford commented on the petition. “‘Text book’ deliveries are few and far between. EMS and First Responders are going to get [run] ragged, more [than] they already are, helping get mommas and babies delivered safely into this world or to a facility to be delivered.”
The Dallas Express contacted Walton for a response to the comments from community members, but she did not respond by the publication deadline.