Potter County Today

Public officials at the county, state and federal levels are pressing UPMC administrators to reverse their decision to discontinue childbirth services at UPMC Cole in Coudersport. Potter County Commissioners Nancy Grupp, Robert Rossman and Paul Heimel have been engaged in the mission ever since the news broke last week. They have researched the complex issues related to the growing number of “maternity deserts” in rural areas and enlisted support from U.S. Senators John Fetterman and Dave McCormick, U.S. Representative Glenn Thompson, Governor Josh Shapiro, State Senator Cris Dush and State Representative Martin Causer, among others. Commissioners from Cameron and McKean counties have also joined the mission. All agree that the maternity care issue is part of a broader issue – the need for both short-term and long-term public policy changes to ensure that quality health care services are available in the underserved communities of Pennsylvania. Last week, at the request of Rep. Causer, UPMC executives and administrators hosted a meeting to discuss both the discontinuation of childbirth services at UPMC Cole and the broader issues. Rep. Causer issued the following report:

State officials, along with commissioners from Potter, Cameron and McKean counties, and representatives of our federal lawmakers met with UPMC officials regarding their plans to drop labor and delivery services at UPMC Cole. Despite the strong case we laid out, and the deep concerns we shared about the risks to expectant mothers and their babies, UPMC will not reverse course on its decision.

Their actions cause a significant maternity care desert with no labor and delivery services in multiple counties in our region. UPMC insists the reason for the decision is its inability to recruit an OB/GYN physician to Coudersport, along with a shortage of labor and delivery Registered Nurses. UPMC is adamant this is not a financial decision; however, I question that premise because I have heard from area nurses that UPMC Cole pays some of the lowest rates in our region. We have so many exceptionally skilled and talented health care professionals in our region who should be compensated appropriately for their life-saving skills.

I specifically raised concerns about the risk this action poses for our expectant mothers and babies with long travel times to another facility, transportation accessibility challenges and the burden placed on our already fragile EMS system. In response, we were told UPMC was committed to providing 24/7 ambulance transportation for inter-facility transport of patients; personalized coordination of transportation services; and overnight accommodations for expectant mothers and family members, including fuel subsidies.

Legislators have focused a great deal of resources on rural health care over the last several years, but what has become clear to me is our supposedly not-for-profit huge health care companies are failing to live up to their commitment to providing affordable, accessible care in rural communities like ours. We deserve better.