North Shore Birth Center Operator, Patients Dispute Center's Status

BEVERLY, MA — The ongoing dispute between patients and advocacy groups opposed to the planned closing of the North Shore Birth Center and the operator of the Beverly Hospital center reached a new disconnect this week when Beverly Hospital President Tom Sands refuted the assertion that the center had, in fact, already closed as of Tuesday.

The group "Campaign to Save the North Shore Birth Center" provided a statement to Patch on Wednesday morning acknowledging what it said was the certified nurse midwives of the North Shore Birth Center treating the last patients on what the group called the "birth center's final day of operations" on Tuesday.

But Sands responded to a Patch inquiry hours later saying that the center "remains open to provide our established patients with any post-partum care they might need, and for the provision of routine gynecological services."

Sands said in a statement: "Beverly Hospital continues to work in partnership with elected officials and our local community to further discuss how elements of the experience within the birth center could be incorporated into the hospital's labor and delivery setting."

But Peabody resident Emilee Regan, who is a patient of the center, told Patch she was informed last month that the center would no longer be booking appointments beyond Oct. 11. She said the birth center then reached out on Wednesday offering to book appointments once again.

"It's just ridiculous," she said. "What patients would want to schedule their care now after being denied care since September?

"This is the latest example of Beverly Hospital intentionally misleading the community to preserve their public image and it is detrimental to their patients."

The hospital and those opposing the planned shutdown have been at odds throughout the summer and fall with organized protests held with the hope of either forcing the hospital to keep the center open, or pushing Beth Isreal Lahey Health and other state agencies to open a comparable facility that provides holistic midwife prenatal and birth care central to the North Shore.

"We are asking our public health officials to hold Beth Israel Lahey Health to the standards they have created," Campaign to Save the North Shore Birth Center said.

Regan said that without the North Shore Birth Center the only fully operational midwife birth center in the state is in Northampton since she said a Cambridge center has not performed a birth since the beginning of the pandemic (in 2020).

Beth Israel Lahey Health announced plans to close the center that has been open for 42 years in June because of staff shortages. But then agreed to put those plans on hold for 90 days under public pressure in August.

"They said they would not make any decisions on the Birth Center for 90 days and they have made very significant decisions," Regan said.

Since then, the advocacy groups have accused the center of dramatically cutting back services. The hospital has responded that while the center is not accepting any new or returning patients, it is providing treatment and services to current ones.

"Beverly Hospital is committed to providing our community safe, high-quality labor and delivery services within a hospital setting," Sands said.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)