State demands closed birth center re-open, lose money

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The Oregonian reports, “Oregon regulators have denied Legacy Health’s request to close its birthing center at Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham, finding that the closure could endanger pregnant patients and their babies.The decision escalates a high-stakes standoff, since Legacy went ahead with the shutdown two weeks ago even without approval from the Oregon Health Authority. Legacy said too many of the birthing center’s employees had quit…Legacy officials have said they had no intention of closing the Mount Hood birth center. It wanted to restructure and cut costs, in part by ending the 24-hour presence of an obstetrician. Several of the birthing center’s doctors quickly resigned. Legacy said previously that at that point it had no alternative but to close it down for lack of adequate staffing.”

Consider the irony!

Oregon is one of the few states where medical centers cannot locate anywhere unless they get government approval and that approval process is full of red tape (which is why Oregon has a hospital capacity shortage).  Even if a rural town is begging for more hospitals — it might take years for government to get around to say yes, if they say yes.  AND Oregon has a rule that you cannot close a medical facility without government approval.

Here we are in a crisis.  A labor shortage (created by failed government policy) and a loss of revenue where Oregon hospitals have lost nearly a half billion dollars (also caused by government taxes and policy).   Legacy Birth Center cannot operate under these conditions.  Now government is forcing them to stay open.

State government is forcing this birth center to lose money and provide strained medical care which is not in the interest of patients.  Forcing this center to lose money puts at risk the larger Legacy health care systems.   This whole thing is a disaster.

As we previously reported:

Legacy Mount Hood’s Family Birth Center is closing.  A Springfield and Bend center have already closed.   The Legacy Birth Center was already a low volume center, but made worse since Oregon is witnessing a decline in population of families.  As young families leave, the number of natural births decline.

The labor shortage is the other reason the center is closing.

Oregon pushed out many medical workers because the State mandated a vaccine policy that was rated inflexible and among the six most restrictive in the nation at a time when most states did not have a mandate (those that did, most had flexible options like weekly testing).

Finally, since Oregon raised $300 million in hospital and health care taxes while driving up labor costs, hospitals have been losing money.  Over $300 million last year alone.

Also, recently several pregnancy help centers have been attacked by Leftist rioters.

This Eugene pregnancy center had to board up its windows as nearly 100 rioters descended on it.

Liberal polices making Oregon a difficult place to raise a family.