UMass Memorial Health’s unwavering decision to close the Leominster Hospital maternity ward sends a clear signal to Beacon Hill that the Department of Public Health needs more leverage to bear in these situations. And that can only happen through the Legislature, which must provide the DPH with the authority to make shuttering a vital medical service a difficult, pains-taking process.
UMass Memorial Medical Center officials intend to work with transit officials to help redirect patients to other area hospitals, especially UMass Memorial Medical Center’s campus in Worcester, if they follow through with a Leominster maternity ward’s closure.