The Newport City Council unanimously passed a
resolution
on Tuesday night, urging Brown University Health to maintain full operation of the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center at Newport Hospital. Following passionate testimony from dozens of community members who shared personal stories about the facility’s impact on their lives, the council passed the resolution.
The special meeting, held at City Hall, drew a standing-room-only crowd of mothers, healthcare workers, and community advocates who spoke for nearly ninety minutes about the potentially devastating effects of closing the birthing center due to budget constraints at Brown Health.
“This is not about politics. This is personal,” said Councilor Ellen Pinnock, who shared her own experience of losing a child during pregnancy and having to travel off-island for care. “What I want to say is that if the Birthing Center at Newport Hospital closes, a conscious choice to ignore the needs of women and children has been made.”
The resolution, co-sponsored by five council members, calls on Brown Health leadership to reconsider any plans to eliminate birthing services and asks state and federal officials to support efforts ensuring continued local maternity care. It will be sent to Brown Health leadership, Newport Hospital’s new president Dr. Tenny Thomas, the governor, and other state and federal officials.
Councilor Xay Khamsyvoravong emphasized the timing is critical, as Brown Health is currently working through its annual budget process with a decision expected by the end of September.
“Right now, as we sit relative to the timing process, Brown Health is going through their annual budget process,” said Councilor Xay Khamsyvoravong. “They have a new president who
started yesterday
, and they’re moving towards adoption of the budget at the end of September.”
The resolution outlines multiple concerns about a potential closure, including forcing expectant mothers to travel significantly farther for delivery services, which could pose serious risks in emergencies. It also warns that closure would strain the city’s Fire and Rescue Department, whose ambulances would be increasingly called upon to transport expectant mothers off-island during time-sensitive situations.
Several speakers shared harrowing personal experiences that highlighted the importance of having local birthing services. One resident, who lives on Broadway, said she has been pregnant 16 times and lost six pregnancies and one full-term newborn.
“My last two were two boys, and I couldn’t have made it without Newport Hospital,” she said. “I lived right across the street. My doctors, because I’ve had so many pregnancies, I had to go to women and infants, but I didn’t make it to women and infants.”
Healthcare workers also spoke about the practical challenges of closing the birthing center. Dr. Brooke Roebuck, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Newport Hospital, said she has received no official communication about the potential closure despite her leadership role.
“I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve had to transfer babies, sick babies, to other hospitals,” Roebuck said. “I can’t tell you the number of times that the NICU at Women and Infants Hospital is full and I have to call around while I take care of a sick baby in the middle of the night to beg someone to take care of my patient.”
Rebecca Clark, a nurse who has worked at the birthing center for 25 years, stated that the facility handles approximately 50 births per month and serves around 1,200 outpatients annually. She expressed concern about what would happen to emergency cases if the center were to close.
“We have four and five and six and seven and eight different patients come in unexpectedly almost on a daily basis,” Clark said. “You’re going to put these, not you guys, we know who’s going to do it, you know they’re going to move that mom up to Providence, God forbid she doesn’t have transportation.”
Several speakers emphasized the impact on vulnerable populations. Rebekah Gomez, executive director of Conexion Latina Newport, said the organization has worked hard to make Newport Hospital accessible to the Hispanic community.
“The risks to this community, to the Hispanic community and their babies and their families, forcing them to leave this island would be insurmountable,” Gomez said.
Carol Bazarsky, chair of the Newport Hospital Foundation Board, told the crowd that no final decision has been made yet and urged community members to contact state legislators about healthcare funding issues.
“She did assure me that should the decision be made that the Birthing Center will have to close, that there will be an opportunity just like we’re having here tonight for all your voices to be heard before any final decision,” Bazarsky said.
Councilor Stephanie Smyth became emotional while discussing the broader implications for women’s healthcare and the community’s future.
“To me, I look five, 10, 15 years down the road, and where is that gonna leave us? Is it gonna leave us in a situation of not having a hospital, not having schools, and the eradication of our middle-income families?” Smyth said.
The council also passed a motion requiring the city administration to ensure that Dr. Thomas, Sarah Frost of Brown University Health, and Brown Health CEO receive a copy of the meeting video.
State Representatives Marvin Abney and Lauren Carson attended the meeting, and Vice Chair Lynn Ceglie, who was unable to attend due to a previous engagement, was described as being “100% behind” the resolution.
The meeting concluded with Holder acknowledging the community’s frustration with the council’s limited ability to influence the decision directly.
“What’s frustrating to me is we’re not in a position right now to say, all right, we’re going to keep it open or we’re going to close it,” Holder said. “But what I can tell you and for the very rare times that I will speak for this council, we will do everything we can to make sure that your voices are heard.”
A full video of the meeting
will be available soon on this page
.
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