A civil penalty of $153,500 has been imposed on a Connecticut hospital for terminating labor and delivery services without the certificate of need approval required by the state, according to the Office of Health Strategy.
The Office of Health Strategy reached the agreed settlement with Johnson Memorial Hospital, which is part of the Trinity Health Of New England system.
A spokesperson for Trinity Health Of New England said, “The agreement allows us to move forward in partnership with state officials to serve the health care needs of our community.”
The state agency also said the settlement “requires the hospital to fund a grant to support reproductive health, prenatal or postnatal care or other services related to childbirth in the hospital’s service area.”
Further, the agency said in a statement, it will hold a community forum “to seek input on how the funds should be used and will provide final decisions to the hospital.”
“Investing the funds from this civil penalty in the community impacted by Johnson Memorial Hospital’s actions reinforces the responsibility hospitals have to their communities,” said state Department of Health Commissioner Deidre Gifford, in a statement. “We look forward to hearing from the community how the funds can be best invested to promote maternal and infant health and well-being.”
The agency said the hospital closed its labor and delivery services during the COVID-19 pandemic but did not “resume services when the public health emergency ended.” The agency had issued “a more substantial penalty in 2022” but agreed to reduce the amount this year.
The agency in November had come to a settlement with Johnson Memorial Hospital permitting the permanent closure of the labor and delivery unit, the statement said.
The issue of closing labor and delivery service units at hospitals in Connecticut has drawn pushback from some lawmakers and others who have said they fear the need to travel and the impact on drawing new families to towns that do not have such services nearby. Hospitals have cited low birth volumes, safety concerns and the difficulty of providing enough staff for units.
The state agency said the community engagement forum will be held in the greater Stafford Springs community in early 2025 and that written comments can be submitted.
The agency noted that certificate of needs approvals are required by state law for “termination of inpatient or outpatient services” offered by any hospital.
“The civil penalty covers a period of time when we did not have a quantifiable definition for termination of services in statute,” said Gifford. “The definition was codified in 2022 to define termination of services as 180 days of service closure. The reduction in the civil penalty from the initial determination reflects the standards prior to passage of House Bill 5506.”
The settlement further “requires the hospital to engage an independent consultant to conduct a birthing center study to assess the need for and feasibility of establishing a center in the service area,” according to the Office of Health Strategy.
Under the agreement, the hospital must provide transportation for “birthing parents and their partners to a hospital of their choosing within a 50-mile radius” of Johnson Memorial Hospital for labor and delivery services at no cost, and to “meet a number of other requirements to support infant and maternal health.”
Notice of the forum and a way to submit public comments will be made available on the OHS website and in the CON portal and the agency “will inform the hospital of how the funds should be distributed within 90 days of the forum,” according to the agency.
