"People are going to lose their lives": Massachusetts maternity ward begins closure earlier than expected

The labor and delivery unit and maternity ward at Merrimack Health Methuen Hospital, formerly Holy Family Hospital, will begin its closure on Monday, a full month sooner than expected.

Nurses who work at the Methuen, Massachusetts hospital tell WBZ they were called into a meeting on Tuesday where they were informed that patients who arrived for labor and delivery after Monday, June 29, would instead be sent to Lawrence General Hospital. Patients with labor emergencies can still come to Methuen and will be transported to Lawrence if possible.

"It's sad what's happening," said one part time labor and delivery nurse at Methuen who spoke with WBZ on the condition of anonymity.

Methuen maternity ward closing

The Methuen maternity ward was scheduled to close on August 1, a closure that was announced in April and attributed to the decision of a working group that analyzed the area's healthcare needs, and what was "financially viable" for the hospital group.

The closure would impact the department that "consist(s) of 24 obstetric beds, 28 well infant nursery bassinets, and 10 special care nursery bassinets," according to a letter sent from the hospital system to the Department of Public Health.

Lawrence General Hospital purchased Holy Family Hospital, merging as "Merrimack Health," in 2024 after the collapse of Steward Health Care, which previously owned the Methuen location.

"We were told that this wasn't going to happen, that everything was going to be fine," a labor and delivery nurse told WBZ. "We weren't going to merge."

DPH took issue with the closure, notifying Merrimack Health on June 10 that the Methuen location is "in fact necessary for preserving access and health status within the Hospital's service area," and requiring the hospital system to reply with an explanation of how the community will still receive ample services after this closure. Merrimack Health tells WBZ it is "continuing to respond to the Department of Public Health's essential services process, while physicians and clinicians coordinate with their patients on appropriate care plans."

Patients to receive care at Lawrence General Hospital

The problem that staff and former patients take with the transition is the solution: that patients will instead receive all labor and delivery care at Lawrence General Hospital, which is roughly two miles from the Methuen campus.

"They don't have the space over there," a labor and delivery nurse at Methuen told WBZ. "Just two weeks ago we got a call from somebody at Lawrence General asking if they could bring a patient over to us because they were full."

"We go into this field because we care about other people," she added. "Like, if they're rushing this the way that they are, people are going to lose their lives."

"It's been unsafe to the patients and nurses," a different nurse told WBZ on the condition of anonymity. She is transitioning to a job at Lawrence General. "I love my job at [Holy Family Hospital], but the way we have been treated, I don't really want to work for [Lawrence General]," she said.

"At this rate, people are going to be delivering in the hallways," a third nurse told WBZ, noting that only a fraction of her coworkers had accepted jobs at Lawrence General.

In a statement to WBZ, Merrimack Health said, "we are fully prepared to support this transition safely and to welcome and care for our patients as a regional provider of maternity care."

Nurses concerned about safety

Some nurses will transition to new jobs at Lawrence General. Others will leave their positions. "The nurses remain deeply concerned about the safety of patients to be transferred to this new service, particularly given that the summer months can be among the busiest for hospital maternity units," a statement from the Mass. Nurses Association read.

The closure will impact expectant mothers with plans to deliver babies in the coming weeks, too. "We work with a high-risk population: Hispanic women, Black women. They're already at high risk anyways, and now you're going to add this, you're going to bump this on top of the risks that they already have," the nurse said.

Mothers who have previously delivered children at the Holy Family maternity ward say its closure will be a blow to the community.

"It really broke my heart. It's a piece of me and my family," said Hillary Steele of Methuen, who delivered all three of her children via C-section at Holy Family. "I think it's unnecessary stress for these mothers. I would be absolutely livid and honestly going to freak out, panic mode at that point. It's already stressful enough when you are 38 weeks pregnant."

Elizabeth Marino, who delivered four of her eight children in Methuen, called the decision a "slap in the face."

"I bring my kids here on their birthdays to see the nurses in the NICU," she said. "This is the best hospital to deliver babies at. The nurses… There's just something different about them from other hospitals, especially in the maternity ward."

This is a developing story.