*Breaking News*
Ohio Nurses Association Files Injunction to Stop Closure of Ashtabula Obstetrics Birthing Unit
Help save the Ashtabula County Medical Center OB by easily sending a letter to the Board of Trustees.
After promises to keep services in the community,
the Ashtabula County Medical Center is closing the obstetrics birthing and skilled nursing units.
Apparently, a lot changes in a year.
Instead of investing in the quality care the OB and skilled nursing units proudly provide the residents of Ashtabula, the hospital would rather shut them down, effectively removing over 20 employee positions and forcing Ashtabula residents to find care somewhere else. That “somewhere else” for expectant mothers is 50 miles away.
We cannot expect mothers, especially those in poverty or with limited transportation, to travel so far outside their communities to deliver their babies.
Join us in telling ACMC CEO to invest in the community and don’t remove access to care. Keep the OB and skilled nursing units!
OB services are already limited in Ashtabula. ACMC receives all transfers from the Geneva and Conneaut Medical Centers and without the OB unit, pregnant women and babies will have to travel 45 to 60 minutes or more to receive the care ACMC currently provides. Those are minutes, especially in emergent situations where ACMC provides the care that mothers and babies need to ensure safe and healthy deliveries. For those babies that require NICU services, the OB nurses stabilize the baby while sometimes waiting hours for life flight or ambulance services to transfer them to a hospital with a NICU. Why is ACMC willing to risk the lives of Ashtabula women and children?
Read One OB Nurse’s Testimonial and Research
What else can you do?
Contact the ACMC Board of Trustees! Tell these leaders of ACMC that #MothersandBabiesMatter and we must #SaveACMCOB!
Ashtabula County Medical Center Board of Trustees
Nancy Kister, Chairperson
Craig Sernik – Chairperson-Elect
Roger Corlett, Secretary/Treasurer
Michael Habowski, President & CEO Michael.habowski@acmchealth.org, 440-997-6520
Peg Carlo
Joe Giangola
Bill Dingledine
Rev. Vernon Palo
Marlene Sartini
David Pontius
Jim Timonere – jim@cityofashtabula.com, 440-992-7103
Kelly Hancock, Cleveland Clinic Representative – 216-444-6734, hancock@ccf.org
Jason Hergenroeder, Cleveland Clinic Representative
Richard Parker, MD, Cleveland Clinic Representative – President of Hillcrest Hospital 440-312-2112, parkerr@ccf.org
Sathish Adigopula, MD, ACMC Chief of Staff, sathish.adigopula@acmchealth.org, 440-997-6980
Alexander Taich, MD, ACMC Vice-Chief of Staff Alexander.Taich@acmchealth.org
TIME
Have u ever heard the sound,
of a heartbeat in distress.
Stimulated a baby,
as it laid on its mother’s chest.
With every passing SECOND,
you plead to the lord above,
they’ll take their first breath,
and remain with the ones they’ll love.
Have you ever held the hand,
of a mother thrashing in pain.
Blood flowing like a river,
trying to keep her sane.
Have you ever calmed a husband,
as he held his lifeless wife.
TIME is of the essence,
as you transfuse to save her life.
Has your heart ever shattered,
from the silence of a Doppler.
Or, the pain curling screams,
as she holds her demise in a rocker.
TIME is so precious,
when it comes to life and death.
EVERY SECOND counts,
or it could lead to their last breath.
Stand up for what’s right,
our community needs your voice.
Some mothers live in poverty,
some mothers have no choice.
Let your cries echo,
every life deserves a century.
What if distance becomes the thief,
they’re worth more than a memory.
By: Sherry Braat
(ACMC Labor and Delivery RN)