>> Chicago >> area maternity services are becoming fewer and farther between over the weekend, the maternity ward at Roseland Community Hospital shut its doors.

It is the 4th labor and delivery department in the Chicago area to suspend services in just 30 days.

Rosen's administration says the closure was necessary due to declining birth rates and cuts to federally funded programs.

Now, hospital staff and expectant mothers are left to figure out what's next.

Joining us to talk more about this is Dr Joy West, the now former chair of the Department of OBGYN at Roseland Community Hospital.

We also reached out to Roseland Community Hospital and received a statement which we'll get to in just a bit.

Dr West, thank you for joining us.

Thank you for having So patients and staff at the hospital only given a few weeks initially it was thought to be December.

It got moved up to October 31st before the hospital would be suspending labor and delivery services.

Was this a shock to Was absolutely was a shock.

>> We had known for awhile that our volume was decreasing.

But we didn't think that it would happen.

So suddenly so we were devastated.

We're still devastated.

Any reason why the volume of deliveries might have been decreasing?

Were patients going elsewhere or people having fewer babies?

People are having fewer babies.

So birth volumes are down everywhere.

However, labor and delivery unit still have to be ready.

>> For anyone that comes into the hospital.

So even with the low volume, we were prepared for any patient that what com in the door.

But still, again, we did not expect the closure.

You've worked at Roseland for over 20 years.

What is it like knowing that this the hospital where you've spent, you know, this chunk of your career won't be offering these services anymore.

deeply personal to me.

24 years.

These are families that I know.

I know the community, the workforce than nurses.

We have really build a tight knit community there.

We all care about the patients that come through the doors there.

So not only is it professionally devastating for me, but also personally a big challenge right now.

We are looking now for ways to help the emergency room staff there prepare for what would they do have to take on that burden of taking care mom, right where and hopefully we can come back to that in a minute.

But I want to get to the statement from Roseland President CEO Timothy Egan.

It reads in part, quote, Roseland Hospital administration has fought a battle every day for 14 years to keep labor and delivery open in spite of tremendous odds, suspending labor and delivery is not a decision Roseland made by choice.

It is the result of decades of historical underfunding of safety net hospitals that made it impossible to sustain services that this community depends on and deserves.

Do you think that there's more that the hospital administration could have done to maintain the services?

I like to think so.

However, this is not an isolated incident.

Hospital labor and delivery units are closing across the country.

And so the financial burden of maintaining a Lindy unit really falls not just on the hospital.

It really is systems that create devaluation of moms.

And so the expense of a labor and delivery unit is usually burdened by Medicaid.

The majority of patients in our communities, our Medicaid reimbursement rates are low.

So we have a system in place where you're being reimbursed at a lower rate than the actual expenses.

So I wouldn't say that it was it's necessarily Roseland Hospital when I know it's happening all over the South side, 20 over 20 labor and delivery units have closed on the South side in the last 10, 15 years.

So, yeah, it's a pattern.

The closest hospitals to Rosen with labor delivery services are now more than 4 miles away.

What does this mean for patients in that area?

That means patients are going to have to travel longer distance.

They're going to have to bear the burden of getting from communities where they're already challenge with transportation issues in come issues.

And we know that maternal and fetal outcomes poor when patients have to travel far from home.

And so speaking maternal fetal outcomes, according to a 2025 report from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Black Women in Illinois are more than twice as likely to die from any pregnancy-related condition.

>> And 3 times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related medical condition white women.

It also found 91% of maternal deaths were potentially preventable.

Do you see this?

The closure just furthering the disproportionate impact on black without salute Lee, when you have communities that are already dealing with persistently high morbidity and mortality rates.

>> And you remove access to maternal health care outcomes are going to be poor.

It's like removing a fire station from a community that has lots of fires.

And so maternal outcomes are are going to be worse with the lack of access to labor and delivery services.

As you mentioned, you and other staff members Lindy are working to sort of support your emergency staff to figure out how to manage if a woman still comes in because of the fact is, I mean, patients might still come to Roseland because it's the closest hospital and they've got an emergency.

What does this mean for the staff there and outcomes for those patients who arrive?

Yeah.

A part of the sudden announcement of the closure was a frenzy to get the emergency room staff prepared.

We want our patients to be able to come into the emergency room and be assessed stabilized and transferred.

Now, that's not the optimum situation.

Of course, we'd love to take care of them right there at the hospital.

But we want to make sure that that ad staff is ready to take care of the patients.

So we have done the best we can to prepare them to take care of patients who may just walk through the doors of of the emergency room.

You and other staff members have called on local and state leaders to take action to invest in safety net hospitals because we have seen several others in the area and around the state close.

>> 30 seconds left.

Doctor Election Day is tomorrow.

What does meaningful action look like to you?

>> It means caring for and placing value on the most vulnerable women in the community.

It means taking time to look at the systems that are in place that are not working.

That lead to the sort of closure.

It means simply putting our money where our values are and that's in the lives of women and babies.

Dr.

Joy West, thanks for joining us.

Best of Luck.

Thank thank you for having me.

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