Petition for Hospital Accountability and Birth Equity At West Suburban Medical Center
Petition for Hospital Accountability and Birth Equity At West Suburban Medical Center
The Issue
On November 18, 2024, the leadership of West Suburban Medical Center informed the President of the Medical Staff that Family Medicine Physicians and Midwives would no longer be allowed to deliver patients, effective November 29, 2024. With only eleven days of notice, this abrupt decision caused confusion and upheaval among hundreds of patients planning to deliver at WSMC with their family medicine or midwife provider. Pressure from elected officials resulted in a one-week extension of privileges until December 6, 2024, which is still not enough time for prenatal patients to make informed decisions about transitioning their care to other hospitals or other providers.
The lack of concern for patient health and wellbeing that this course of action reflects, as well as the violation of hospital bylaws that preceded its implementation, must be called into account. The reckless behavior of private for-profit hospitals that result in reduced birth options and healthcare access in an already under-resourced community must be identified and stopped.
As individuals who care for the community, we express our collective disapproval of the leadership of West Suburban Medical Center, whose poorly planned decision to remove delivery privileges Family Medicine Physicians and Midwives has put pregnant people and their families at risk, and has also obstructed our quest for birth equity and improved maternal health outcomes on the West Side. We demand better. We ask the hospital leadership of WSMC, our elected officials, and the relevant regulatory bodies with jurisdiction over the hospital to implement the following requests:
1. For the creation of a Community Oversight Board or other means to hold West Suburban Medical Center accountable to the community it serves
o RATIONALE: The decision to abruptly remove Family Medicine and Midwife providers reflects a pattern of disregard for patient and community impact. We need a formal structure for community oversight of hospital accountability so that further harm to healthcare quality and access does not occur.
2. For elected officials and healthcare regulatory bodies to provide the political and legal means to advance birth equity and healthcare access at community hospitals serving high-risk populations
o RATIONALE: Elected officials in Illinois have expressed strong support of birth equity, including $23M state funding for the Birth Equity Initiative for FY25. Family Medicine Providers and Midwives are an important piece of the puzzle, as they provide high quality care with significant reduction in cesarean sections and improved maternal health outcomes. Their role in maternal child healthcare must be protected from the profit-driven decisions of privately owned hospitals and false narratives that undermine their training and credentials. The overseeing elected officials and regulatory bodies are called upon to incentivize West Suburban Medical Center to advance birth equity, and to pass laws that give Community Oversight Boards authority over the hospitals in their region.
We, the undersigned, kindly ask you to take the necessary steps to advance birth equity in our community, and to promptly address the dangerous situation that West Suburban Medical Center has created for the prenatal patients it claims to serve.
The Issue
On November 18, 2024, the leadership of West Suburban Medical Center informed the President of the Medical Staff that Family Medicine Physicians and Midwives would no longer be allowed to deliver patients, effective November 29, 2024. With only eleven days of notice, this abrupt decision caused confusion and upheaval among hundreds of patients planning to deliver at WSMC with their family medicine or midwife provider. Pressure from elected officials resulted in a one-week extension of privileges until December 6, 2024, which is still not enough time for prenatal patients to make informed decisions about transitioning their care to other hospitals or other providers.
The lack of concern for patient health and wellbeing that this course of action reflects, as well as the violation of hospital bylaws that preceded its implementation, must be called into account. The reckless behavior of private for-profit hospitals that result in reduced birth options and healthcare access in an already under-resourced community must be identified and stopped.
As individuals who care for the community, we express our collective disapproval of the leadership of West Suburban Medical Center, whose poorly planned decision to remove delivery privileges Family Medicine Physicians and Midwives has put pregnant people and their families at risk, and has also obstructed our quest for birth equity and improved maternal health outcomes on the West Side. We demand better. We ask the hospital leadership of WSMC, our elected officials, and the relevant regulatory bodies with jurisdiction over the hospital to implement the following requests:
1. For the creation of a Community Oversight Board or other means to hold West Suburban Medical Center accountable to the community it serves
o RATIONALE: The decision to abruptly remove Family Medicine and Midwife providers reflects a pattern of disregard for patient and community impact. We need a formal structure for community oversight of hospital accountability so that further harm to healthcare quality and access does not occur.
2. For elected officials and healthcare regulatory bodies to provide the political and legal means to advance birth equity and healthcare access at community hospitals serving high-risk populations
o RATIONALE: Elected officials in Illinois have expressed strong support of birth equity, including $23M state funding for the Birth Equity Initiative for FY25. Family Medicine Providers and Midwives are an important piece of the puzzle, as they provide high quality care with significant reduction in cesarean sections and improved maternal health outcomes. Their role in maternal child healthcare must be protected from the profit-driven decisions of privately owned hospitals and false narratives that undermine their training and credentials. The overseeing elected officials and regulatory bodies are called upon to incentivize West Suburban Medical Center to advance birth equity, and to pass laws that give Community Oversight Boards authority over the hospitals in their region.
We, the undersigned, kindly ask you to take the necessary steps to advance birth equity in our community, and to promptly address the dangerous situation that West Suburban Medical Center has created for the prenatal patients it claims to serve.
Petition Closed
Share this petition
Supporter Voices
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on December 5, 2024