To: All Potential Participants
Subject: Freestanding Birthing Center Assessment | January 2025 Focus Groups
Greetings Windham Community Members,
In June 2020, Windham Hospital received regulatory approval from the State of Connecticut Office of Health Strategy to discontinue its labor and delivery service. As a condition to this approval, Windham Hospital has engaged Guidehouse, a global healthcare consulting firm, to complete and publicly issue an independent assessment and report of the need for, and the feasibility of a freestanding birth center (FBC) in the Windham Community. This assessment will help understand the current need for a FBC and the operational and financial requirements to safely operate a FBC within the Windham Community.
The Guidehouse team will be conducting a series of in-person focus group meetings January 2025 to solicit input from Windham Community partners and the Windham Community at large. The composition of these focus groups has been approved by the State and the focus groups will be used to seek meaningful input from stakeholders, including Windham residents, community partners, and providers, on their perspective on the current need for and feasibility of a FBC. Each focus group meeting, summarized below, will last approximately 1 hour.
Focus Groups Overview
- Focus Group 1 | Windham Community Women of Childbearing Age with Children [3 focus groups]
- Focus Group 2 | Windham Community Women of Childbearing Age without Children [3 focus groups]
- Focus Group 3 | Windham Community Healthcare Providers [2 focus groups]
- Focus Group 4 | Windham Community Partners [2 focus groups]
Guidehouse will be recruiting up to 10 community members to participate in each focus group. There will be three (3) sessions offered for Focus Groups 1 and 2 and two (2) sessions offered for Focus Groups 3 and 4. To ensure an independent and unbiased environment, Windham Hospital leadership will not be present during the focus group meetings and recording will not be permitted. All feedback received in the focus group meetings will be anonymized in the final report to Windham Hospital and the community.
If any of the focus groups are of interest to you, please email windham.fbc.assessment@guidehouse.com. You will be instructed to complete a short survey to verify that you meet the eligibility requirements for the focus group and to indicate which date and time work best for you.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to the Guidehouse team if you have any questions. We thank you in advance for your participation!
Guidehouse Team