The hospital cited a significant decline in the number of births at the facility, leading to millions of dollars in losses. It currently averages fewer than 25 births per month, compared to the past when the hospital would perform around 60 births per month.
On top of that, public insurance like Medicaid isn鈥檛 paying enough for the cost of those births, hospital representatives said in a statement.
Laura Doyle is a licensed midwife and a co-owner of Moonstone Midwives in Arcata. Doyle said she鈥檚 seen how these stagnant reimbursement rates are affecting hospitals.
鈥淚t's putting birth centers out of business everywhere and it's a crisis when it comes to the safety of birth in this country," she said.
Doyle said it's a tragedy to lose Mad River's delivery room because of their reputation in the area.
"It's the place that people wanted to go, where people had the best experiences as far as feeling empowered in their birth choices," said Doyle.
Reimbursement rates by California鈥檚 public insurance, Medi-Cal, haven鈥檛 been enough to cover the costs for labor and delivery services, . That means independent birth centers that began accepting public insurance in California often find they can't make ends meet with what they were paid. They also have to meet strict licensing requirements from the state, discouraging many from applying in the first place. Moonstone Midwives doesn't take public insurance because of the poor reimbursement rates.
Representatives from Mad River Community Hospital did not respond to requests for an interview.
Doyle said they鈥檙e already seeing a flood of new patients interested in their birth center. She and other midwives are lobbying for state legislation for better compensation for birthing services. By providing more care to low-risk pregnancies, she said midwives can relieve the pressure on shrinking hospital delivery rooms.
The pending closure of Mad River鈥檚 maternity ward will leave just St. Joseph in Eureka for hospital labor and delivery services.
"In collaboration with Mad River Hospital, we will work to prepare for this transition in care," said St. Joseph spokesperson Christian Hill in a statement. "Working hand in hand with all our community health care partners, we will compassionately meet the needs of our community."
