Jessica Wheat, a labor and delivery nurse, is alarmed by the decision to close the obstetrics program and NICU at Research Medical Center in Kansas City. This closure comes after years of declining births and poses significant risks to local mothers and infants, particularly those in rural areas. Smaller hospitals in the region often lack the necessary resources for emergency procedures. Wheat highlights that the distance to hospitals increases the risk of complications and mortality for expectant mothers facing emergencies.
We tend to get smaller hospitals that will Life Flight bleeding moms or moms who are breech or moms who are having a hypertensive crisis. We can do the emergency C-section - a lot of smaller hospitals do not have those capabilities. The farther they have to go, the more at risk they're going to be for complications, even death.
We have just an abundance of resources, and people that know what they're doing. That abundance is coming to an end. Last month, HCA Midwest Health announced it was closing its obstetrics program and NICU.
Collection
[
|
...
]