FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2026
(Columbus, OH)—The following statement can be attributed to Rick Lucas, RN, President of the Ohio Nurses Association:
“OhioHealth’s announcement that it will discontinue inpatient maternity services at OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, effective July 31, 2026, is short-sighted and dangerous, and it highlights the structural rot at the core of Ohio’s corporate-owned, profit-driven healthcare system.
“Delaware County is the fastest growing county in Ohio. Families who live there will now have to travel 30 minutes or longer to reach inpatient maternity care. And those minutes will cost lives.
“According to Ohio’s most recent report of pregnancy-related deaths in the state, 88% of pregnancy-related deaths were preventable. Inpatient maternity care is critical to lowering this devastating number.
“OhioHealth’s decision isn’t just a healthcare issue—it’s a warning sign of what happens when healthcare systems grow so large and powerful that community needs take a back seat to financial priorities. OhioHealth likes to market itself as a community-focused healthcare provider. But when profitable growth and market dominance are prioritized, while essential services disappear, patients have every right to question whose interests are really being served.
“This is what healthcare consolidation looks like: fewer choices, less access, and decisions made farther away from the communities they affect.
“OhioHealth’s announcement isn’t the end of inpatient maternity services at Grady, it’s the beginning of a demand from Delaware County families, nurses, and health professionals that OhioHealth provide necessary, lifesaving healthcare services to Ohioans where they live. And the Ohio Nurses Association is ready to stand beside the people of Delaware County and the nurses and health professionals at Grady in their fight to keep these services in their community.
“Families in Delaware County deserve access to local maternity care. Expectant mothers shouldn’t have to travel farther because executives decided the numbers no longer work. And patients, families, nurses, and health professionals deserve better than a healthcare system that treats maternity care as optional when balance sheets get tight.”
The Ohio Nurses Association is Ohio’s professional union for nurses and health professionals, dedicated to uniting and empowering nurses and healthcare workers, championing their rights, promoting professional practice, and advocating for quality care for all patients in Ohio.
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