On July 23, the MaineHealth/Lincoln Hospital Board voted to close Miles Hospital's Labor and Delivery unit. The vote now moves to the regional board, and then the MaineHealth Board of Trustees on August 6. The Miles Delivers Action Coalition released an open letter (attached) responding to the vote.

To the People of Lincoln County

CC: Lincoln Hospital Board of Directors

From: Steering Committee, Miles Delivers Action Coalition

Today our local MaineHealth Board members — Bruce P. Garren, Marva Nesbit, Peter Wood, Scott Ballard, Lydia Crafts, Les Fossel, Timothy Fox, Samira Hasan, Russell Mack, Harold D. Moorefield Jr., Sean O'Donnell, Andrew Russ, Louis Sell, Denise Soucy, Holly Stover, and Marion M. Swall — have failed in their duty.

MaineHealth publicly states that local Boards exist to provide local oversight and local input into decisions affecting healthcare in our communities. On this issue, that promise proved meaningless.

This is not a divided community. Our coalition has now heard from more than 10,000 people who want Miles Labor and Delivery to remain open. More than 50 of MaineHealth’s own providers. We have heard from exactly zero who want it closed. Yet the board chose closure anyway.

They saw a letter signed by more than 50 members of their own hospital systemand hit "ignore."

They heard from their own donors and hit “ignore”

They heard MaineHealth repeat claims that are incorrect and hit "ignore."

They heard legislators, physicians, nurses, mothers, and families speak about the consequences of eliminating local obstetric care and hit "ignore."

They learned about creative solutions to their problems and hit “ignore”

They understood why taxpayers support MaineHealth as a Critical Access Hospitals, and hit "ignore."

They heard from women who are alive today because Miles Hospital had obstetric services when minutes mattered. They hit "ignore."

If this unit closes in December, a woman will not be able to have a c-section anywhere in the county unless she has been dead for at least four minutes.

Then, and only then, can the Miles emergency room "help" her. That is the reality of this decision.

Perhaps the most mind-boggling part is that even if the local Board had voted to keep the unit open, according to our most recent conversation with Cindy Wade, the recommendation would still have gone to the MaineHealth Board of Trustees. Standing with their community would have cost them nothing except the courage to do so.

Instead, they chose compliance over representation. To what end? Given that Miles is only a small hospital within the MaineHealth system, we expected some indifference from MaineHealth. What we did not expect was such a striking absence of leadership from those entrusted to be our voice. Perhaps we should have.

On a 16-member board, perhaps 1-2 are of childbearing age, and six are women. The people casting this vote will never personally face the consequences of losing local maternity care, but generations of their grandchildren will.

We are disheartened and ashamed that so many of our local representatives chose not to represent us.

To those who voted for closure: Our town will be worse off because you decided that there was no way to overcome solvable concerns.

To those who stood with this community and voted against closure: Thank you.

Sincerely,

Steering Committee, Miles Delivers Action Coalition