PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Following the announcement that Legacy Mount Hood’s Family Birth Center would be closing in March, the Oregon Health Authority has shared in a press release that they did not grant a waiver in response to their closure request.
Legacy Health sent a release on Wednesday stating that the Family Birth Center would close on March 17 — but OHA was quick to respond, saying that the plan has not yet been approved.
According to OHA, emails have been sent to Legacy Mount Hood on two separate occasions, March 2 and March 13, the first one warning that “Closure of a required service without a waiver would put the hospital at risk of a CMS 90-day termination for non-compliance with state licensure requirements.”
In the second email, OHA acknowledged that they had received the waiver request, but that “a hospital may not implement a waiver until it has received written approval from the division” and that more information would be required before the closure could move forward.
The potential closure means that expecting mothers will have to go to Portland — but some women who live in Gresham, East County and as far out as Rhodendron worry that in an emergency, Portland will be too far to get the care they need.
The OHA says once they receive responses from Legacy about the additional information, they will then thoroughly review those responses before making a final decision. At this point, there’s no estimated timeline for completion.
This is a developing story.