Newport City Council urges Brown Health to keep Noreen Stoner Drexel Birthing Center open

The Newport City Council on July 15 passed a resolution urging Brown Health and Newport Hospital leadership to retain full operations of the Noreen Stoner Drexel Birthing Center at Newport Hospital.

The resolution, introduced and read into the record by Councilor Combs, says the center provides “essential maternal and newborn care” for Newport County and that closure would force expectant mothers to travel farther for delivery and could strain local emergency response. Councilor Combs moved the resolution and it was seconded; the council approved the measure with one recorded dissent from Councilor David Carlin.

The nut graf: Councilors framed the vote as an immediate community response after hospital and system leadership told local officials the birthing unit was under review as part of Brown Health’s budget process. Speakers at the special meeting — nurses, former hospital employees, community leaders, doulas and physicians — told the council that closing the unit would harm access, worsen health inequities and create operational strains for emergency services.

Councilor Combs, who read the text of the resolution, told the chamber that Brown Health is in the middle of its annual budget process and that “it is in the next couple weeks that this decision will be made.” She urged residents to reach out to state and hospital officials while the system finalizes its fiscal plan. The resolution also asks the city to work with Brown Health and other stakeholders to explore solutions and requests that copies be sent to Brown Health leadership, the governor, the Rhode Island Department of Health, the local congressional delegation and the councils of Jamestown, Middletown and Portsmouth.

Councilor Smith framed the vote as a defense of reproductive and family health. “To me, trying to take away this birthing center is just another attack on women’s reproductive health,” she said, describing both personal and community consequences if the service is eliminated.

Councilor Paul Tom and other councilors emphasized practical risks of increased travel time for deliveries, saying Newport Hospital has long served residents and visitors across Aquidneck Island. Councilor Paul Tom noted that in the past he himself “almost didn’t make it” to Providence for a delivery, stressing unpredictable timing of labor and the burden of longer transport distances.

Dozens of community members delivered testimony. Susan Mello, who lives on Broadway, said she had urgent episodes in prior pregnancies and credited Newport Hospital with saving her son’s life: “He would not be alive today without Newport Hospital.” Bart Grimes, a retired hospital employee of 40 years, urged the council to “endorse the wishes of the Newport Hospital community” and warned that decisions made outside the local environment could weaken the hospital’s role.

Carol Buzarski, chair of the Newport Hospital Foundation Board, told the council she had spoken with Brown Health officials and relayed that “no decision has been made yet” but urged residents to press state lawmakers for higher Medicaid reimbursement rates, which hospital officials cited as a driver of the systemwide shortfall under review.

Local clinicians and hospital staff described potential operational consequences if the unit closes. Dr. Brooke Robock, who identified herself as chair of pediatrics at Newfield Hospital and a pediatrician who staffs newborns at the hospital, said neonatal and pediatric transfers are complex: “There are times that the NICU at Women and Infants Hospital is full, and I have to call around while I take care of a sick baby in the middle of the night to beg someone to take care of my patient.” Rebecca Clark, a nurse who has worked in the birthing center for decades, said the hospital handles roughly 50 births a month (about 500 a year) and noted about 1,200 outpatient visits on a typical day — figures she gave as context for demand on local services.

Community leaders and advocacy groups warned of disproportionate impacts on marginalized residents. Leticia Michelle, a doula with three decades of experience, said closing the unit would “deepen the inequities we are already fighting against,” and Rebecca Gomez, executive director of Conexion Latino Newport, said the hospital’s Spanish-speaking staff and culturally responsive services are hard-won improvements that would be lost.

After the resolution vote the council approved a separate motion requesting that Brown Health executives — including the new Newport Hospital president, the chief operating officer and Brown Health’s CEO — be provided with a recording of the July 15 meeting and related material. That motion was moved by Councilor David Carlin and seconded; councilors voted to send the recording and materials to system leadership.

The council did not, and legally cannot in this forum, compel Brown Health to retain the service; the resolution is an advisory appeal and a statement of community priorities. Several speakers urged longer-term advocacy directed at state reimbursement rates and insurer payments to make local obstetric and primary care more financially sustainable.

The meeting closed with councilors and residents saying they would continue outreach to state and hospital decision-makers. Mayor Charlie Holder declared the special meeting adjourned after the council approved the motions on the floor.

Ending: The resolution and the public-record testimony will be sent to Brown Health leadership and the state delegates identified in the resolution; councilors and residents said they intend to follow up with additional letters, calls and public pressure while the system completes its budget decisions this summer.