Nurses protest closure of maternity ward at Southern California hospital

Nurses at a Riverside County hospital are protesting plans to shut down the facility’s labor and delivery department.

In August, officials at Hemet Global Medical Center announced they would be closing the obstetrics department due to low volume and a physician shortage.

Nurses assigned to the unit would be moved to the hospital’s emergency department while many workers in the facility, including some who have been there for decades, said they would be left unemployed.  

Nurses are protesting the move over concerns that pregnant patients, many of whom are from underserved communities, would have nowhere close by to seek medical care.

“We have a lot of women who do not have prenatal care and they need a safe place to have a baby,” said Ginny Packham, an OB charge nurse.

With plans to close the maternity ward on Oct. 31, nurses held a rally on Thursday in a last-ditch effort to keep the facility open.

“I had all four of my children at this hospital and I’ve lived here [in the community] since I was in second grade,” said Marie Fonseca, a longtime patient.

Fonseca’s children are all grown now, but she still remembers how vital it was to have the department close by to where she lived.

“I probably would have [birthed] my kids in the car,” she said. “It’s not as easy to get around. A lot of people don’t have cars. They can’t afford them. So what’s going to happen to those women who can’t afford a car and live locally? Where are they going to have their kids?”

Many patients at the Hemet hospital are low-income and hail from underserved communities. With the maternity ward’s closure, they’ll now have to travel about 40 minutes away to either Temecula or Murrieta for the nearest hospital with a maternity ward.

“Temecula or Murrieta is so impacted by traffic that it just takes you so long to get there,” Packham said.

The hospital is still directing patients to the emergency department to give birth, however, prenatal and postpartum care would need to be sought elsewhere.

Nurses said the long commute would hinder many from accessing vital care throughout their pregnancy which could endanger their health and create even more high-risk pregnancies.

“They are encouraging women to seek prenatal care outside of the Valley but sometimes that doesn’t work out,” Packham said. “If you are bleeding or your baby is in trouble, you need to be seen right now and you need to deliver right away.”

As staff and nurses continue protesting the move, they’re hoping their voices will be heard and hospital officials will reconsider the closure.

“It’s devastating,” Packham said tearfully. “I’ve spent my whole life here. My children were born here. I’ve brought relatives here. It’s so hard to say goodbye to this.”

The maternity ward is scheduled to close on Oct. 31.