FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 5, 2020
Contact: Kristi Barnes | Kristi.barnes@nysna.org | 646.853.4489
Anne Songcayauon | Anne.Songcayauon@nysna.org | 917.226.8570
Patient Forced to Give Birth in Emergency Department Due to Shuttered Mother-Baby Unit
Closed Unit Triggers Staffing Exodus from Hospital: 16 Nurses Quit
New Rochelle, NY — New Rochelle nurses, elected officials and local leaders will speak out tomorrow to demand answers from Montefiore Medical System for refusing to reopen mother-baby health at New Rochelle hospital.
Approximately 1,000 families were served annually by Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital’s Labor and Delivery, Maternity, Nursery and Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The unit was closed in March to handle COVID-19 patients, but now sits empty. Montefiore refuses to give a date when the mother-baby unit will reopen.
Families that have come to the hospital to have babies are being transferred out, and one mother even gave birth in the Emergency Department.
WHO: Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital nurses, union and community allies, and elected officials, including State Senator Shelley Mayor, New Rochelle City Council Member Martha Lopez-Hanratty, and others.
WHAT: New Rochelle Rally and Speak Out to Reopen Mother-Baby Units
WHEN: Tuesday, October 6 from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM **Press conference from 12:00 – 12:30PM**
WHERE: Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital, 6 Guion Place, New Rochelle, NY 10801 (in front of the Schaeffer building)
VISUALS: Masking and social distancing will be strictly observed.
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The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. For more information, please visit nysna.org.
