(HARTFORD, CT) - The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) and Johnson Memorial Hospital have reached an agreement designed to prioritize maternal and infant health and study the need for a new birthing center in the hospital’s service area. OHS issued a proposed final decision in January denying the hospital’s certificate of need application (CON) requesting to terminate labor and delivery services. Johnson Memorial Hospital opposed that proposed decision and OHS heard oral arguments on the matter in March.
OHS has worked collaboratively with officials from Johnson Memorial Hospital and Trinity Health of New England since March to reach an agreement regarding labor and delivery services. “We are committed to prioritizing appropriate community access to high quality, affordable maternal and infant health services,” said Deidre Gifford, MD, MPH, OHS Commissioner. “This agreement permits termination of labor and delivery services at the hospital but holds Johnson Memorial Hospital accountable to the community they serve and to the State of Connecticut for maintaining access to all levels of maternal and infant health care. If an independent analysis indicates that a free-standing birthing center in the area is viable, then Johnson Memorial will need to ensure that one is built.”
The agreed settlement requires the hospital to take several additional measures to ensure access to labor and delivery services and maintain prenatal and post-partum care in the community. The agreement requires JMH to:
- Engage an independent third party to assess the need for and feasibility of establishing a birthing center in the hospital’s service area
- Support the establishment of a birthing center and coordination of care with that center should those services be identified as needed and feasible
- Maintain all prenatal, postpartum and wraparound services and staffing levels currently provided by the hospital including lactation consulting and patient and infant wellness, as well as provide support with access to supplemental resources including SNAP/WIC and the Diaper Bank
- Advise all pregnant patients in the hospital’s service area of the birthing options available to them
- Provide emergent and non-emergent transportation to any birthing person and their support person to any hospital of their choosing with a 50-mile radius for labor and delivery services at no cost to the patient or support person
- Provide emergency deliveries in the Johnson Memorial Hospital Emergency Department when necessary
- Support continued recruitment and professional development of certified nurse midwives in outpatient venues and commit to establishing a doula training and certification program should the Department of Public Health establish criteria for the certification of doulas in the next five years
- Support the establishment of a birthing center and coordination of care with that center should those services be identified as needed and feasible
The agreement also requires Johnson Memorial Hospital to report aggregate data on outpatient prenatal services and pregnant patients presenting at the hospital in active labor annually and maintain a community member representing the interests of women on their Community Advisory Council.
The full agreement has been posted to the Office of Health Strategy Certificate of Need Portal under docket number 22-32612-CON. Johnson Memorial Hospital separately faces a civil penalty under docket 21-32486-CON. OHS issued the Notice of Civil Penalty on June 29, 2022 citing the hospital’s failure to resume labor and delivery services despite the expiration of a temporary waiver granted during the COVID-19 pandemic. OHS issued a Proposed Final Decision for a Civil Penalty of $153,000 on February 14, 2024, and heard oral argument from Johnson Memorial Hospital on May 29, 2024. The Civil Penalty docket is still pending, and this Agreed Settlement does not alter the status of that docket.