WarrenWednesday, November 11
Warren council votes 8-1 to ask Mercy Health to keep St. Joseph's labor and delivery unit open
The Daily Youngstown team
Warren City Council voted 8-1 Tuesday to ask Mercy Health to reverse or postpone its plan to close the labor and delivery department at St. Joseph Warren Hospital. Council also wants executives to meet with county officials, clinicians, emergency responders and residents to explain the decision.
Eight of nine Warren council members voted to oppose the closure
8 of 9
- voted for the resolution
- 1 voted no
Sources: WFMJ, Tribune Chronicle
View as table
| Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| voted for the resolution | 8 | 89% |
| voted no | 1 | 11% |
Councilman Greg Greathouse said, "It's never too late to change your mind." Mayor Doug Franklin said the city will do "everything we can" to reverse the decision, but he has to be "realistic" that it might not happen.
- Drive: 30 to 40 minutes under ordinary conditions
- Destination: St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital
- Ambulances: two providers committed to transport women in labor
Councilwoman Tina Milner cast the lone no vote. She sits on the Bon Secours Mercy Health Family Advisory Council and and met recently with the hospital's CEO. The Tribune Chronicle reports she said she would have liked to abstain because of a conflict of interest, but voting no was her only option. She said the hospital's president is preparing a fact sheet, and she doesn't know whether patients would be charged for transport.
The labor and delivery closure is set for early December
- Oct. 28Mercy Health announces the labor and delivery department will close.
- Nov. 10Warren City Council votes 8-1 to oppose the closure.
- Early Dec.The department is set to close in early December, with care consolidated in Boardman.
Source: Tribune Chronicle
Sources: Tribune Chronicle, WFMJ, WKBN.com