The board of directors of Southbridge, Mass.-based Harrington Hospital unanimously voted to obtain approval from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to close the hospital's family birthing center.
Officials did not specify when the center would close, but said the hospital will enter into an agreement with the Worcester-based University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center to provide patients with access to all pre- and post-natal care and services previously provided by the hospital's birthing center.
As part of the management agreement, three Harrington Hospital gynecologists will join the UMass Memorial Medical Group and join the delivery call rotation at the facility.
Harrington Hospital President and CEO Edward Moore said the decision to close the center stemmed from several issues, including staffing difficulties and low birth volume. In 2014, the hospital delivered only 237 (15 percent) of the 1,560 babies born in the area, he said in a letter addressed to hospital staff.
Officials said 39 administrative and non-physician clinical staff will be affected by the closure. The hospital will reportedly work with affected individuals to assist them during the transition and help them apply for open positions at the hospital or at surrounding hospitals in the area.
The birthing center has been in operation since the hospital's founding in 1932.
"Harrington and UMass Memorial already cooperate in the delivery of obstetrics and women's health … High-risk pregnancies are often referred for delivery [to] the UMass Memorial Maternity Center, [while] a tertiary level urogynecologist employed by UMass Memorial [works] part-time at Harrington," said Mr. Moore. "This arrangement will ensure that patients will experience the best of both worlds, local access for all comprehensive gynecological care as well as 90 percent of pre- and post-natal care locally, and deliveries taking place in the Maternity Center at UMass Memorial."