Dr. Tony Blofson and Dr. Elizabeth McLarney are acting co-CEOs of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.
BRATTLEBORO-Few issues have united our community more than the desire to preserve the Birthing Center at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH).
Parents have shared stories about welcoming their children into the world at BMH. Healthcare professionals have spoken passionately about the importance of local maternity care. Legislators, business leaders, and community organizations have stepped forward, determined to find a path forward.
That support matters. It also points to an important truth: if we want to save the Birthing Center, we must also save the hospital that makes it possible.
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The Birthing Center is not a standalone facility. It depends on the strength of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, a community hospital that provides emergency care, surgery, cancer treatment, primary care, rehabilitation, behavioral health services, and other essential healthcare services for thousands of people across southeastern Vermont and neighboring New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The difficult decision to pursue closure of obstetric services was not made because hospital leaders believe maternity care is unimportant. Quite the opposite. It was made because the financial losses associated with providing those services have become unsustainable.
Last year, BMH lost approximately $3.8 million providing obstetric care. This year, those losses are projected to grow to $4.8 million.
Combined with declining reimbursement, rising labor costs, workforce shortages, and recent changes in healthcare policy that have reduced hospital revenue, the financial challenges have reached a critical point.
These are not problems unique to Brattleboro. Rural hospitals across Vermont and the country are struggling to provide services that communities desperately need but that current reimbursement systems simply do not adequately support.
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The encouraging news is that this story is not over.
The hospital has committed to keeping the Birthing Center open while community leaders, legislators, healthcare partners, and hospital leadership work together to explore every viable option. Those conversations are already underway, and the willingness of so many people to come together demonstrates just how much this hospital means to our region.
But preserving maternity care will require more than goodwill.
It will require meaningful changes to healthcare reimbursement. It will require advocacy in Montpelier and Washington. It will require philanthropy and community investment. It will require businesses, civic organizations, and residents to recognize that a strong local hospital is essential not only for healthcare but also for the economic vitality of our region.
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Every service at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is connected. A financially healthy hospital is better able to recruit clinicians, invest in technology, maintain emergency services, and preserve specialized programs like obstetrics. Strengthening the hospital strengthens every patient who depends on it.
The conversation cannot be limited to how we save the Birthing Center. It needs to include how we ensure Brattleboro Memorial Hospital remains a strong, sustainable community hospital for future generations.
If we succeed in that mission, we give ourselves the best chance to preserve local maternity care as well.
Saving the Birthing Center and supporting Brattleboro Memorial Hospital are not separate goals. They are one and the same.
Now is the time for our community to stand behind both.
This Voices Viewpoint was submitted to The Commons.
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