CT approves labor and delivery closure at Windham Hospital

CT approves labor and delivery closure at Windham Hospital
Activists stood on the steps of the state Capitol on November 13, 2023, to protest the proposed closure of the labor and delivery unit at Windham Hospital.  
Photo by Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror

The state Office of Health Strategy (OHS) announced on Friday the approval of a plan to terminate labor and delivery services at Windham Hospital, bringing an end to a three-year saga that pitted community organizers against one of the state’s largest health systems.

Under the terms of the settlement, Windham Hospital, owned by Hartford HealthCare, must hire an independent third party to assess the need for and feasibility of establishing a birthing center in the area. If the study concludes that it is necessary and possible to do so, the hospital will have to either find a provider to operate a birthing center or operate it itself. 

“Together with Windham Hospital, we carefully crafted this settlement to ensure the healthcare of birthing parents is not compromised by the termination,” said OHS executive director Deidre Gifford in a statement.

The hospital will also be required to provide both emergency and nonemergency transportation for the birthing parent, as well as any support people, to and from the hospital for predelivery exams, labor and delivery, and post-delivery visits. Windham Hospital will continue to provide prenatal and postpartum care. 

“Windham Hospital’s decision to end childbirth services has always been about providing safe and sustainable care for women and babies. The state Office of Health Strategy’s settlement with the hospital underscores our commitment to a safe childbirth experience, while acknowledging the existing and enhanced pre- and post-natal programs and services we continue to provide,” said president of Windham and Backus Hospitals Donna Handley in the same statement.

The decision marks the first of three applications currently under consideration by OHS to close labor and delivery units in rural areas of the state.

In addition to Windham Hospital, two other rural hospitals — Johnson Memorial in Stafford and Sharon Hospital — also have pending applications to terminate birthing services. If all three receive approval, Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam would be the only rural hospital in the state offering birthing services.

Windham Hospital stopped performing births in June 2020. Three months later, Hartford HealthCare applied for state approval — known as a “certificate of need” — to officially close the unit, pointing to patient safety concerns due to low birth volumes and difficulty recruiting health care providers.

Community organizers from Windham have sustained a fierce campaign opposing the closure for over three years, holding vigils and protests in Windham and Hartford to voice their concerns about the service cuts. In July 2022, OHS issued an initial denial of the proposal to permanently close labor and delivery at Windham, finding that, among other potential negative outcomes, the move could exacerbate existing health inequities, diminish access, increase costs and limit patient choice in the region.

Per the approval process, Hartford HealthCare appealed the decision the following month. 

Among the new evidence Hartford HealthCare presented was the findings from a survey where hospital administrators reported “needing at least 200 annual births for safety and financial viability.” Hartford HealthCare noted that “Windham handled approximately 100 births in each of its last several years of operation.”

The survey’s authors also concluded that “many administrators indicated prioritizing local community needs for obstetric care over concerns about viability and staffing.”

The issue of low birth volumes at Windham has been one of the most contentious points of disagreement between Hartford HealthCare and community members opposed to the closure.

“It comes down to both sides saying it’s unsafe,” said John Brady in a November 2021 interview with the CT Mirror. Brady is a registered nurse and serves as the executive vice president of AFT CT, a union representing health care professionals, as well as teachers and public employees.

According to the statement, once both OHS and Windham sign the agreement, the parties will meet to establish a work plan for the study of the birthing center.

“This is how you kill a small city,” said Willimantic town council member Rodney Alexander on the steps of the state Capitol during a November evening vigil calling for the restoration of services. “How can you convince a young couple to move to Willimantic, raise a family, with no maternity ward?”

The Journal occasionally will offer articles from CTMirror.org, a source of nonprofit journalism and a partner with The Lakeville Journal.

Latest News

Where the mat meets the market

Where the mat meets the market
Kathy Reisfeld
Elena Spellman

In a barn on Maple Avenue in Great Barrington, Kathy Reisfeld merges two unlikely worlds: wealth management and yoga, teaching clients and students alike how stability — financial and emotional — comes from practice.

Her life sits at an intersection many assume can’t exist: high finance and yoga. One world is often reduced to greed, the other to “woo-woo” stretching. Yet in conversation, she makes both feel grounded, less like opposites and more like two languages describing the same human need for stability.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

To mow or not to mow?

To mow or not to mow?

A partially mowed meadow in early spring provides habitat for wildlife while helping to keep invasive plants in check.

Dee Salomon

Love it or hate it, there is no denying the several blankets of snow this winter were beautiful, especially as they visually muffled some of the damage they caused in the first place.There appears to be tree damage — some minor and some major — in many places, and now that we can move around, the pre-spring cleanup begins. Here, a heavy snow buildup on our sun porch roof crashed onto the shrubs below, snapping off branches and cleaving a boxwood in half, flattening it.

The other area that has been flattened by the snow is the meadow, now heading into its fourth year of post-lawn alterations. A short recap on its genesis: I simply stopped mowing a half-acre of lawn, planted some flowering plants, spread little bluestem seeds and, far less simply, obsessively pluck out invasive plants such as sheep sorrel and stilt grass. And while it’s not exactly enchanting, it is flourishing, so much so that I cannot bring myself to mow.

Keep ReadingShow less
Capitol hosts first-ever staging of Civil War love story

Playwright Cinzi Lavin, left, poses with Kathleen Kelly, director of ‘A Goodnight Kiss.’

Jack Sheedy

Litchfield County playwright Cinzi Lavin’s “A Goodnight Kiss,” based on letters exchanged between a Civil War soldier and the woman who became his wife, premiered in 2025 to sold-out audiences in Goshen, where the couple once lived. Now the original cast, directed by Goshen resident Kathleen Kelly, will present the play beneath the gold dome of Connecticut’s Capitol in Hartford as part of the state’s America250 commemoration — marking what organizers believe may be the first such performance at the Capitol.

“I don’t believe any live performances of an actual play (at the Capitol) have happened,” said Elizabeth Conroy, administrative assistant at the Office of Legislative Management, who coordinates Capitol events.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hunt Library launches VideoWall for filmmakers

Yonah Sadeh, Falls Village filmmaker and curator of David M. Hunt Library’s new VideoWall.

Robin Roraback

The David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village, known for promoting local artists with its ArtWall, is debuting a new feature showcasing filmmakers. The VideoWall will premiere Saturday, March 28, at 6 p.m. with a screening of two short films by Brooklyn-based documentary filmmaker and animator Imogen Pranger.

The VideoWall is the idea of Falls Village filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, who also serves as curator. “I would love the VideoWall to become a place that showcases the work of local filmmakers, and I hope that other creatives in the area will submit their work to be shown,” he said.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.