MetroWest Medical Center leaders announced that the local hospital’s nursery will be shifted to a Level IB facility equipped for some complications, as opposed to one that offers basic care for newborns.
FRAMINGHAM - Leaders at MetroWest Medical Center have announced that they will be working towards transitioning their nursery services at Framingham Union Hospital to a Level IB facility.
The announcement from the healthcare organization was made on August 22.
“Maintaining this program, as well as our plans for enhancing services for mothers and babies, will allow us to continue to be able to be an important part of this momentous occasion for families in our area,” Chief Executive Officer of MetroWest Medical Center Greg McFarland said in a statement.
The news comes after Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky was informed in February about the plans from Tenet Healthcare—the Texas-based company that owns MetroWest Medical Center—to reduce the available resources at the local medical facility’s Level IIB nursery, which had been in service for decades. The initial plan was to make the Framingham Union Hospital nursery a Level IA ward, which would provide basic nursery care.
Level IIB nurseries offer advanced care for newborns and their families when complications such as premature births arise. Some of those special care services will be preserved at the local Level IB nursery; those facilities offer things like transitional continuous positive airway pressure machines for babies along with nasal cannula oxygen and services for complicated feedings. Level IB nurseries also have at least one in-house advanced practitioner available within the building at all times, as opposed to relying on someone on call.
While she described the new designation as a “compromise,” local maternity ward nurse Ginnie Ford did outline what see saw as the positives in this change of plans.
“We will continue to be able to deliver babies 35 weeks gestation and over…The Level IB will be able to support some respiratory needs,” Ford said in an interview with The Frame.
Local politicians, healthcare workers, and residents were overwhelming critical of the initial plan to make Framingham Union Hospital’s nursery a Level IA ward, as grievances with the proposal were raised during a public hearing at Nevins Hall in April. Concerns included potential morale dips among hospital staff members, possible gaps in resources for the region’s populations, and reduced accessibility for care at other advanced facilities in spots such as Boston and Worcester. Local stakeholders had called for at least the Level IB designation, as the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) deemed MetroWest Medical Center’s nursery an “essential” service for the MetroWest region back in May. With that determination, state health officials required Tenet to address a number of the concerns raised by the community.
Ford believes that the input from people across the area sparked this latest decision from Tenet.
“It’s made such a big difference,” Ford continued.
“I think Tenet would’ve just done what they planned on doing, and making it just a regular nursery and not having this support system in place, if we didn’t fight for it.”
In a statement provided to The Frame, President of the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Framingham native Katie Murphy stated that the largest union for registered nurses in the state is “encouraged” by these developments at MetroWest Medical Center.
“For nurses at Framingham Union, it was gratifying to see the community turnout at the DPH public hearing to join us in our advocacy for this service and also to see how that effort and community engagement may have modified Tenet's plan,” Murphy wrote in her statement.
Moving forward, Ford—who started her career at Framingham Union in 1978 before working within various local nurseries—wants the community to know that she and the rest of the maternity ward team are ready to assist any families who may need advanced care.
“It’s very important to me that we keep this quality care going at (Framingham Union).” Ford said.
“It means a lot to me, personally, as far as what we do and how we support our community.”
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This week on The Frame: local leaders continue efforts to install additional on-street electric vehicle charging stations, a preview of September 16’s preliminary election for the District 2 seat on the School Committee, and a dive into the history of the Maridor supper club along with the legendary musicians who made their way through it.
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