Stafford Hospital's Plan To Close Maternity Ward Concerns CT AG

Connecticut Attorney General's Office

STAFFORD/HARTFORD, CT — Plans for Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford to close birthing and maternity services is drawing a review from the Connecticut Attorney General's Office.

In comments submitted this week to the Office of Health Strategy, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong urged regulators to thoroughly review the community impact of the proposed closure of labor and delivery services at Johnson Memorial Hospital, 201 Chestnut Hill Road, Stafford. Johnson is owned and operated by Trinity Health of New England.

In his comments, Tong recognized the challenges presented by the hospital, including declining birth rate, limited financial resources and inability to attract and retain professional staff.

He argued, however, that the closure of such departments in rural areas (including closure of Windham Hospital’s department, the application to close Sharon Hospital’s department and, now, Johnson Memorial Hospital) could be damaging to maternal and child health, especially if there are no other adequate, alternative solutions.

Tong also cited logistical issues that implicate local residents’ accessibility to maternal health services.

JMH’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment identified that some residents in the community “cannot afford a car … and [that] public transportation is not always dependable.”

In the context of pregnant mothers, the closure of the JMH labor and delivery department will undoubtedly create more strain on transportation for the community’s low-income residents.

For example, the alternate locations proposed in JMH’s Certificate of Need application are Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford Hospitaland Manchester Memorial Hospital, all of which are an average of 25 to 30 miles away.

“In short, before requiring parents without transportation to travel 25+ miles to another labor and delivery unit, asking a mother in active labor to travel to travel 40 minutes or more for maternity services, perhaps paying thousands of dollars for emergency transport, or asking a family living paycheck to paycheck to pay thousands of dollars for out-of-network care, the applicant should demonstrate that there is a clear public need for the proposal,” Tong states.

For the full announcement, click on this link.

For more information on Johnson Memorial Hospital, click on this link.