PeaceHealth Requires 100% Capitalization for Birth Center Relocation

Members of the Sacred Heart Medical Center Foundation campaign committee for the Birth Center at RiverBend recently learned Mel Pyne, Oregon Region CEO, does not support starting construction until the entire fundraising goal of $750,000 is in hand and the existing birth center building is sold. This was new information for many, if not all, of the committee members who were stunned by the 100% capitalization requirement.

One hundred percent capitalization is the same as limiting home ownership to individuals with sufficient cash reserves to buy outright without the benefit of mortgage lending tools. Tools that, when utilized judiciously, are generally deemed to have facilitated “the American dream.” Could other Sacred Heart Medical Center units have met either of these requirements before relocating to RiverBend in 2008? It is difficult not to connect these requirements in some way to PeaceHealth’s response to the economic downturn.

Katharine Gallagher, a Birth Center “mom” serving on the SHMC Foundation’s committee and a member of Lane County Friends of the Birth Center, contacted Mel Pyne to express concern over his lack of support. He responded that his and the PeaceHealth Oregon Region Executive Team’s support have always been contingent on (1) meeting the fundraising goal and (2) selling the current facility. In the year since she was invited to join the capital campaign, Katharine has seen no evidence of this extraordinary requirement being known or adequately informing the management and coordination of fundraising or other related efforts. Following is an excerpt of her response to Mel Pyne:

The consistency of the Oregon Region Executive Team's position has not been clearly communicated in the year that I have served as a community member on the capital campaign committee. I am not alone in being newly appraised and surprised by these contingent requirements having to be fully met before construction. (Are these criteria standard?) It is unlikely they will be met in time for the 2009 relocation. This, in turn, threatens future births occurring at the Birth Center as it disconnects the women/families, certified-nurse midwives and obstetricians with whom they collaborate from the birth center "ingredients" they have come to expect over the years: proximity to medical resources and geographic efficiency.

Regarding philanthropic efforts on behalf of the new Birth Center, I am confident tremendous support awaits cultivation. I understand the SHMCF is in the midst of reorganization and am optimistic that a more coherent and well-conceived effort for the new Birth Center will result. I have not heard any mention of the status of the current property's sale.

Earlier this month, Mel Pyne invited members of the Lane County Friends of the Birth Center to meet on February 13th. We appreciate his accessibility and look forward to encouraging PeaceHealth’s continued sensitivity and long-term commitment to providing an out-of-hospital childbirth option. Lane County Friends of the Birth Center continues to ask for the following responses from PeaceHealth:

• A public statement of support for the Birth Center’s 2009 relocation adjacent to RiverBend

• An evaluation of efforts to date and a revised project management plan reflecting a successful 2009 outcome
  

To support the Birth Center and the option for women to continue having out-of-hospital birth there, please take the following steps:

• Sign the online petition (Updated copies will be submitted to the PeaceHealth Board of Directors on Monday, Feb. 2nd)

• Submit letters to the editor to local media outlets (Send copies to lanecofbc@gmail.com for posting on Facebook)

• Contribute to the Birth Center fundraising effort - all gifts matter and no gift is insignificant.
  

EUGENE WEEKLY covers the Birth Center

EUGENE WEEKLY
January 29, 2009
SLANT:

• Economic worries could also interfere with PeaceHealth’s plans to relocate its Nurse-Midwifery Birth Center from its current location at 511 E. 12th Ave. to a new facility planned near RiverBend. Advocates for the move are lobbying for the new center at PeaceHealth’s corporate board meeting in Washington state June 30 and have gathered 523 signatures on a petition. Not everyone’s happy with losing the center at its handy 28-year Eugene location, but one source tells us she’s worried PeaceHealth’s board might see the Birth Center as redundant and simply close it and not build the new $417,000 facility on its $600,000 one-acre lot. However, the Birth Center appears to be a priority for the hospital’s foundation. Advocates for the move have a blog at www.lanecofbc.blogspot.com

Clarification: the Washington State meeting is scheduled for January 30th

Click HERE to sign the petition supporting Birth Center adjacent to SHMC RiverBend

Open Letter to PeaceHealth Governance and Medical Leadership

January 26, 2009

Re: 2009 PeaceHealth Nurse Midwifery Birth Center relocation to SHMC RiverBend

An Open Letter to PeaceHealth Governance and Medical Leadership:

In anticipation of the January 30th PeaceHealth corporate board meeting in Washington state, we respectfully ask that you honor the tremendous community commitment to and expectation of the PeaceHealth Nurse Midwifery Birth Center’s 2009 relocation adjacent to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. Your advocacy for the Birth Center’s 2009 relocation is key to the continuation of this cherished provider’s services, including the option for a woman to give birth at a freestanding facility adjacent to SHMC. Lane County Friends of the Birth Center offers the following information and accompanying materials to support your efforts.

• The Birth Center’s network of supporters includes mothers, fathers, grandparents, children born at the Birth Center, extended family members, friends, doctors, nurses, birth-service professionals and community members. Please review and share the attached petition signatures and comments from the more than 500 individuals who support the Birth Center’s relocation adjacent to SHMC RiverBend.

• More than 60% of the capital campaign initiated by the Sacred Heart Medical Foundation to ensure the Birth Center’s relocation adjacent to RiverBend has been secured.

• PeaceHealth has already designated a site, had architectural plans drawn and obtained local land-use approvals. With the Corporate Board’s clearance, building permits can be pulled and the new Birth Center completed by late summer, just a few months off schedule.

• Over more than 20 years, local families have welcomed more than 5600 babies with Birth Center assistance because its services exemplify PeaceHealth’s vision that individuals “receive safe, evidence-based compassionate care: every time, every touch.” Birth Center midwives, lactation consultants, nurses and support staff embody PeaceHealth’s core values of respect, collaboration, stewardship and social justice.

The Birth Center and a woman's option to give birth there are at a critical juncture – please provide the necessary leadership for its 2009 relocation adjacent to SHMC RiverBend. If Lane County Friends of the Birth Center can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to be in touch with me via email at lanecofbc@gmail.com or by phone at (---) --- - ----.


Sincerely,

Katharine V. Gallagher
Member of the Steering Committee


Encl: Petition and signatures, Excellence in Care, Reasons Women Choose to Give Birth at the Birth Center


cc: Lane County Friends of the Birth Center blog (http://www.lanecofbc.blogspot.com)

Excellence in Care: PeaceHealth Nurse Midwifery Birth Center

The Birth Center

• More than 5600 babies have been born in its more than 20 years of service.
• It is the only certified and Master’s prepared midwifery group in Lane County.
• Its mother-baby care practices predate current healthcare reform recommendations for maternity care emphasizing evidence-based care.
  

Access to care

• Birth Center midwives staff the PeaceHealth Prenatal Clinic, the only prenatal service provider for Lane County’s nearly 300 uninsured, low-income pregnant women.
• Pregnant women are seen at the Prenatal Clinic and the Birth Center regardless of insurance status or ability to pay
  

Postpartum care and breastfeeding

• The Birth Center provides superior breastfeeding education and support, probably the best in Lane County. Postpartum home visits ensure the healthy progress of newborn infants and provide critical breastfeeding support.
• The Birth Center is Oregon’s only midwifery practice to earn the “Baby Friendly” designation from UNICEF and the World Health Organization in recognition of its exemplary breastfeeding support practices.
• Women consistently comment on the value of the Birth Center’s weekly drop-in well-baby clinic. Without an appointment, they can consult lactation consultants, weigh their baby and connect with other moms.
  

Birth Centers are a safe, increasingly desired alternative to hospital birth

• Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the landmark National Birth Center Study provides clear evidence that birth centers offer safe and satisfying alternatives to hospital confinement for healthy women (1).
• Approximately 20% of Oregon births are attended by certified nurse-midwives compared to 11% in the rest of the country (2).
• Because they spend more time with clients, midwives build meaningful relationships allowing women to enter labor well prepared, calm and confident. In the past year, the number of clients using the Birth Center has increased 75% (3)
  

Accreditation
The American Association of Birth Centers (AABC), the nation’s most comprehensive resource on birth centers, accredits the Birth Center. AABC has built a strong foundation for growth in birth centers through promotion of state regulations; reimbursement; a quality improvement program; national standards; recognized accreditation by the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers; an annual forum for discussion of issues; education of parents, professionals, and policy-makers to the birth center concept; major research efforts; and development of industry indicators.

Additionally, Birth Center practices comply with the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) written standards of care developed in accordance with standards set by the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM).


References
1. Rooks JP, Weatherby NL, Ernst EKM, Stapelton S, Rosen D, Rosenfield A. Outcomes of care in birth centers: the National Birth Center Study. N Engl J Med 1989; 321:1804-1811.

2. National Center for Health Statistics quoted in the PeaceHeatlh campaign statement

3. PeaceHealth campaign statement

Why Women Select the Birth Center

Some (not all) of the many reasons women choose to give birth at the PeaceHealth Nurse Midwifery Birth Center rather than at the hospital or at home:

• They are drawn to the midwifery model of care. Practicing holistic, family-focused care, midwives and lactation consultants build meaningful relationships with women preparing them to meet labor and newborn care prepared, calm and confident.

• They prefer the midwifery model of care’s facilitation of labor with emotional and social support. Midwives attend labor from start to finish.

• They want to rely on the body's normal physiological processes to give birth and they want full freedom of movement.
  

• They wish to avoid routine interventions common in hospital settings. They do not want to be hooked up to an IV, induced or given continuous electronic fetal monitoring.
  

• They desire to give birth in an intimate, home-like setting but do not want to be at home.
  

Press Release: Mothers Seek to Protect PeaceHealth Nurse Midwifery Birth Center’s Future at RiverBend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Eugene, OR – January 21, 2009 – Moms, dads, grandparents and supporters are concerned over the behind-schedule plans to relocate the PeaceHealth Nurse Midwifery Birth Center adjacent to RiverBend Hospital in Spring 2009. Having submitted more than two-dozen letters to the PeaceHealth Board of Directors, they have asked that the 2009 relocation be prioritized. More than 270 supporters have signed Lane County Friends of the Birth Center’s recently launched online petition supporting the move.

Located in a two-story Arts and Crafts house in downtown Eugene, the Birth Center’s long-planned relocation will situate it within an updated, one-story Northwest-inspired facility adjacent to the RiverBend Hospital. Features include tubs for water birth services, a garden walking path for laboring women, space for a well-baby drop-in clinic and educational programs. Additionally, office space and an in-house lab are included. Right now, office work, lab work and lunch breaks occur in the current site's kitchen with moms and babies streaming in and out. PeaceHealth initiated a capital campaign a year and a half ago. Land has been designated, architectural plans drawn and site plans approved by the City of Springfield. Boding well for the new facility, the number of clients using the Birth Center increased 75% in the past year.

Lane County’s only accredited and Master’s prepared midwifery group, the Birth Center is also Oregon’s only midwifery practice to earn the prestigious “Baby Friendly” designation from UNICEF and the World Health Organization in recognition of its superior breastfeeding support. Women using its services may birth there or at the hospital. Of his child’s birth at the Birth Center, Josh Laughlin, wrote “having an option in our community to have a child outside of a hospital, but also not at home, is critical. It filled the niche that we were looking for” (Petition, 235). Failure to relocate the Birth Center means Lane County women will loose the option of birthing in a freestanding, intimate and homelike setting in proximity to the hospital, an option they have had for more than twenty years.

Women and families choose the Birth Center for its low-tech, high-touch prenatal, birthing, and postnatal care, including the weekly drop-in well-baby clinic. Practicing holistic, family-focused care, midwives and lactation consultants build meaningful relationships with women preparing them to meet labor and newborn care prepared, calm and confident. Embodying PeaceHealth’s mission to treat all people with compassion, the Birth Center, alone among local providers, offers care to expecting mothers regardless of ability to pay.

Lane County Friends of the Birth Center is a volunteer-led group connecting Birth Center families, new and old, as well as community members in support of the unique services provided at the PeaceHealth Nurse Midwifery Birth Center.

Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/birthctr/petition.html
Blog: http://www.lanecofbc.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40048856835

Contact:
Katharine Gallagher
Communications Officer
Lane County Friends of the Birth Center
lanecofbc@gmail.com

###

Sign the Online Petition in Support of the Birth Center!

Lane Co FBC’s petition is a powerful tool for the collective expression of our commitment to seeing continued access to the Birth Center services upon which local women rely. The more signatures we gather, the better we can convey our commitment to seeing the Birth Center relocate to RiverBend in 2009.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Sign at http://www.petitiononline.com/birthctr/petition.html
2. Email others and ask them to sign and pass it along
   
3. Post the petition link on your Facebook friend and group accounts
4. Post the petition link and ask supporters on online forums and listserves to sign
5. Add the petition, blog and Facebook links to your personal email account signature
6. Add the petition link to your personal website
   

Track our progress whenever you visit Lane Co FBC’s blog where you’ll see a petition signature counter in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks for your support!

Lane Co FBC's first meeting = we have a steering committee!

Lane County Friends of the Birth Center held its first official meeting Thursday, January 8th. The following individuals have agreed to serve on the steering committee:

Renee Bailey

Eden Cronk

Katharine Gallagher

Karen Guillemin

April Hartley

Kirsten Hughes

Jena Price

Elly Vandegrift

We welcome additional members. If you would like to help but cannot serve on the committee, not to worry - there will be opportunities to help out along the way. Here are the rest of the highlights from our meeting:

Letters

We have 22 terrific letters - thank you to everyone who wrote one. They've been submitted, along with one from Lane Co FBC, to Mr. Mel Pyne, PeaceHealth CEO and Board President. 

We need more letters as we'll continue submitting them to PeaceHealth. PLEASE add your voice and encourage your loved ones to do the same. Remember, your letter doesn't have to be perfect - writing it and submitting it is what counts here. Click here for more info. 

Getting the word out and building our base

We want to connect with as many Birth Center families, friends and supporters as possible. Please send email addresses for these folks to lanecofbc@gmail.com. Additionally, the steering committee will get the word out via Craigslist and a drop box at the Birth Center. 

We are also working on an e-newsletter and an online petition. When you receive these, please forward them to as many people as you can.

Email us at lanecofbc@gmail.com, if you have any questions, concerns or ideas!

 

Open Letter to PeaceHealth Board of Directors

Following is the open letter submitted today to the PeaceHealth Board of Directors by Lane County Friends of the Birth Center. The many wonderful letters of support sent by moms, dads, grandparents, friends and professionals were submitted, as well. It's not too late to add your letter of support - the more letters, the better! Click here to learn more.


January 5, 2009

An Open Letter to the PeaceHealth Board of Directors:

This letter is intended to register deep and widely-felt concern by the Birth Center’s support network of women, families, friends and community supporters that this community asset will not be relocated to its updated facility near RiverBend as planned for Spring 2009. Friends of the Birth Center asks that the PeaceHealth Board of Directors provide the necessary leadership to evaluate and invigorate efforts made thus far in order to get the Birth Center back on track for a 2009 opening.

In light of today’s economy, PeaceHealth must inevitably grapple with complex choices affecting the Birth Center. As the 22 attached letters of support attest, the birth experiences and related excellent outcomes associated with Birth Center care make it worthy of priority status in the eyes of the community. This anecdotal support is all the more powerful because it describes a facility fully in line with recommendations for effective mother-child healthcare delivery - including those recently released by the National Priorities Partnership, a diverse group of national organizations including the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. (Sacred Heart Medical Center received its Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission.)

In the more than 20 years of its existence, local families have birthed 5600 babies with Birth Center assistance because its services are consistent with PeaceHealth’s vision that individuals “receive safe, evidence-based compassionate care: every time, every touch.” Among these families are our community’s most vulnerable parents, many of whom are seen at the Prenatal Clinic, which is staffed by the Birth Center. PeaceHealth care for these families is given regardless of ability to pay. For families welcoming children and for our community that benefits when its families have a strong start, the Birth Center midwives, lactation consultants, nurses and support staff exemplify PeaceHealth’s core values of respect, collaboration, stewardship and social justice.

Local commitment, stellar performance and an irreplaceable role in ensuring access to quality care are, hopefully, sufficient grounds for the Birth Center to be a prized local treasure meriting cultivation and protection as PeaceHealth faces difficult times ahead. Without the Board’s committed leadership, the current “behind-schedule” scenario could quickly devolve into inaction and failure. Please do not allow this outcome but rather build on the positive steps already taken to designate a site and secure building permits for the new birth center. Continue PeaceHealth’s sensitivity and long-term commitment to providing options in childbirth by taking the following next steps:

1. Make a public statement of support for the Birth Center’s relocation in 2009
2. Meet with Lane County Friends of the Birth Center in January. If this is not possible, please meet with us in February
3. Evaluate efforts to date and correct them to reflect a successful 2009 Birth Center opening near RiverBend
4. Visit the Birth Center to see firsthand what a positive reflection it is on the services offered by PeaceHealth in this community
   

Thank you for your consideration – Lane County Friends of the Birth Center looks forward to hearing from you and working with you toward an end worthy of our community!

Sincerely,

Katharine Gallagher, Eden Cronk, Karen Guillemin, Elly Vandegrift, April Hartley, Renee Bailey, Kirsten Hughes, Jena Price,
The Steering Committee of the Lane County Friends of the Birth Center



encl: letters of support

cc: Lane County Friends of the Birth Center blog