RNs say labor and delivery/post-partum unit closure would cause harm to families, cause safety crisis for expecting patients and babies

Registered nurses on Monday, February 10, are holding an action to protest St. Rose Hospital’s suddenly announced plans to close its Family Birthing Center (FBC) in Hayward, California, which provides care for expecting and post-partum patients and infants in the city as well as the neighboring cities of Castro Valley, Fremont, and Union City. This notice directly contradicts claims by Alameda Health System during public hearings just weeks earlier that it would protect all services in its recent acquisition of St. Rose. Nurses say the closure will harm expecting patients and their babies, and that the community remains largely unaware of this critical loss of labor and delivery services. 

“This decision was made in haste, at the expense of patient safety,” said Amanda Saad, an RN in the Emergency Department at St. Rose for 18 years. “When we questioned St. Rose about the details of this planned closure, the responses gave nurses little to no confidence that patients experiencing real complications will be safe. Birth complications take swift action and experience, with life-threatening consequences for the mom and baby if not handled properly.”

Who: St. Rose RNs represented by California Nurses Association
When: Monday, Feb. 10th, 12:30 p.m.- 1:30 p.m
Where: St. Rose Hospital, 27200 Calaroga Ave. Hayward, CA (Meet in front of the hospital)
What: Protest of planned Family Birthing Center closure

Nurse leaders have challenged St. Rose regarding its plans for public/community engagement about this plan to close vital maternal-child services in the community. Nurses pushed management for details on what will happen when expecting patients, often in crisis, present in the emergency department with complications that may be life threatening to them and their unborn babies.

“The emergency department cannot become an ad-hoc labor and delivery unit,” said  Shekeba Sharifi, an RN at St. Rose for five years in the birthing center. “As the pandemic has shown us, we need safe and experienced care for patients, not theories and hoping for the best. This planned closure adds more stress to a deeply challenging situation.” 

Over the years, CNA nurses have fought against closures in many cities, ranging from units to entire hospitals, and successfully protected access to care for numerous communities. St. Rose nurses vow to fight this planned closure on behalf of their patients.

Maria Ronquillo, an RN who has worked in the Family Birthing Center for 34 years said, “St. Rose is pressing us to move forward and not question this decision. As nurses, we always put our patients first, especially in these times. We have a duty to object when an assignment is unsafe, closing vital services is no different.”

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.