Statement from Senate President Mattie Daughtry on MaineHealth Board Vote to Close Miles Family Birth Center

AUGUSTA, Maine — Senate President Mattie Daughtry released the following statement after the MaineHealth Board of Trustees voted to close the Miles Family Birth Center in Damariscotta:

“Today's vote by the MaineHealth Board to close the Miles Campus Family Birth Center is a devastating mistake.

Labor does not wait. Rural families deserve the ability to safely welcome their children into the world. This decision puts pregnant people and newborns at greater risk, and it sends a heartbreaking message to Lincoln County and all rural Maine communities that they are somehow less deserving of safe maternity care.

And while providing that care has never been easy in our rural state, difficult does not mean dispensable. A nonprofit health system exists to serve its communities, especially when the work is hard. It has a responsibility to solve difficult problems, not walk away from them.

The people of Lincoln County deserve better. Decisions like this shape the future of far more than one hospital. They shape whether the next generation of Mainers can build their lives, raise their families, and put down roots. I will continue working with the community, health care providers, and my colleagues to fight for rural maternity care and ensure this is not the future for communities across our state.”

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