TROY — In response to criticism over the proposed closure of its Troy maternity ward, St. Peter’s Health Partners will voluntarily conduct a community impact study and devise a closure plan that includes transportation options for maternity patients who need help accessing nearby hospitals, St. Peter’s officials said this week.
Dr. Steven Hanks, president and CEO of the health network, defended the consolidation plan and answered questions about the financial health of Samaritan Hospital and its Burdett Birth Center in a wide-ranging interview with the Times Union editorial board Thursday.
Hanks noted the region’s declining birth rates and emphasized that Burdett, which delivers about 900 infants annually, already transports 20 percent of its patients over the river to St. Peter’s Hospital, or outside its network to Albany Medical Center.
Taking cues from Albany Med’s closure of its eight-bed maternity unit about 30 miles south of Albany at Columbia Memorial Hospital in 2020, Hanks said St. Peter’s is exploring ways to provide transportation assistance for expectant mothers.
“What (Albany Med) did — and what we’ll probably end up doing — is you identify the transportation well in advance of the delivery,” Hanks said. “And then the only issue becomes the ones who show up without ever having seen somebody, which is pretty rare.”
Samaritan will continue to provide pre- and post-natal care to Rensselaer County residents, and emergency room physicians are equipped to handle emergency births, Hanks said.
But critics say the hospital system has failed to involve the community in its plans to shutter Burdett, which is currently the only maternity ward in Rensselaer County and serves a largely low-income patient base. The announcement came as a shock to lawmakers, community groups and Troy residents like Ladreia Bell, who gave birth to her now-2-year-old daughter at Samaritan.
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