Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health is to reopen its Mount Hood maternity center within the next three months following disagreements with the Oregon Health Authority over the legality of its original decision to close the Gresham, Ore.-based facility, the Lund Report wrote April 12.
Citing an internal email from Mount Hood President Bahaa Wanly, "Legacy will welcome pregnant patients at the Mount Hood Family Birth Center within the next 90 days," the report said.
Safety concerns were a priority for the Oregon Health Authority in refusing to grant a waiver for the center to close, and the OHA has also launched a separate but linked investigation into Legacy Health's original decision to close the Mount Hood maternity center without such a waiver.
Legacy Health was choosing to divert pregnant women to other locations in its service area before this week's turnaround.
The closure of the Mount Hood location was always expected to be a temporary one, Legacy Health said in comments cited in the report..
Nursing staff at the location recently decided to join the Oregon Nurses Association, which had been pushing for the center to stay open.
"Legacy must fully reopen the birthing center as soon as possible and begin the difficult work of rebuilding our community's trust after choosing to close the center and putting its profits ahead of patients' needs," the union said in a statement.
For its part, Legacy Health said April 7 it respected the decision of the nursing staff to join the union.
"Legacy is committed to open, respectful and productive relationships with our employees, regardless of whether they are represented by a union or not," according to a statement on its website.