Why is the Mount Hood Family Birth Center closing?

Did Legacy try to find other doctors to keep the Family Birth Center open?

Is there any way to avoid closing the Mount Hood Family Birth Center?

What is the State of Oregon's role in this process?

After the Family Birth Center closes, what happens if a person in labor arrives with an emergency situation?

Will the diverse populations served by Mount Hood’s Family Birth Center be able to receive quality and equitable care after the closure?

What women’s services will Mount Hood offer after the closure ?

What other options for delivery are there for pregnant people in the area?

Who seeks care at Mount Hood and its Family Birth Center?

How many babies are born at Mount Hood each year ?

What does this closure mean for health care in Gresham and East County?

Is there capacity at Randall to serve patients from East County?

How do I learn more about the Family Birth Center at Randall Children’s Hospital?

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Frequently Asked Questions & Answers

Why is the Mount Hood Family Birth Center closing?

• Legacy did not plan to close the Family Birth Center. Our goal was to transition the center to a new care model that continues to deliver safe, quality care in a new, more cost-efficient and financially viable model.

• In the aftermath of the pandemic, hospitals nationwide are facing a financial crisis driven by rising costs, short staffing and patient backlogs.

• At Legacy Health, we have had an unsustainable trend of operating losses that requires us to take urgent action.

• As we reviewed our operations across our six hospitals the Mount Hood Family Birth Center stood out because of its low volume of births coupled with an unusually high-cost care model.

• Over the past several months, Legacy and our doctors at the Family Birth Center evaluated other approaches to our model of care.

• Unfortunately, we could not identify a model that met all the criteria for Legacy and our providers.

• While we evaluated other approaches, we saw an unanticipated number of staffing vacancies and departures among the doctors at the Family Birth Center.

• As a result, we had to make the difficult decision to close the Family Birth Center.

Did Legacy try to find other doctors to keep the Family Birth Center open?

• Yes. We explored all options to keep the Family Birth Center open. However, we were not able to safely keep the center open due to the number of provider departures.

• We explored the possibility of hiring temporary doctors, known as locums. However, the cost, timing and availability of recruiting and onboarding locums would not have made it possible to keep the center open with in a safe, financially viable care model.  

Is there any way to avoid closing the Mount Hood Family Birth Center?

• Unfortunately, we do not have any options to keep the Family Birth Center open. If the state agrees, our plan is to close the Family Birth Center. 

What is the State of Oregon’s role in this process?

• The Oregon Health Authority oversees the licensing of hospitals in Oregon.

• To close the Family Birth Center, Legacy will need to obtain a waiver from the Oregon Health Authority.

After the Family Birth Center closes, what happens if a person in labor arrives with an emergency situation?

• We are in the process of developing protocols to provide emergency care to pregnant people who arrive at Mount Hood after the closure.

Will the diverse populations served by Mount Hood’s Family Birth Center be able to receive quality and equitable care after the closure? 

• Yes, East County residents will continue to have access to quality and equitable care. But it will look a bit different.

• As we make this transition, we will offer expanded access to more customized and specialized care for the unique needs in our communities.

• We will also continue our work to recruit a workforce that represents the diversity of our community to deliver culturally competent care.

• We are working now with our staff and community partners to inform and educate the diverse populations we serve about the changes in our women’s health care model at Mount Hood.

What women’s services will Mount Hood offer after the closure?

• Legacy’s obstetrics and gynecology doctors, and midwives will continue to serve East County for women’s services in their clinics.

• Labor and deliveries will be at the Family Birth Center at Randall Children’s Hospital.

• We will work with East County providers to ensure outpatient care for babies and children is established in East County clinics.

• We will expand Legacy Medical Group gynecology services, such as annual women’s visits, and gynecology surgery, such as hysterectomy.

• We will establish high-risk pregnancy outpatient care on our campus, also known as maternal fetal medicine.

What other options for delivery are there for pregnant people in the area?

• Pregnant people in the Gresham area have access to five birth centers within a 30-minute drive from Mount Hood: OHSU Adventist Health Portland, Providence Portland Medical Center, Providence Willamette Falls, Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center and Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel. 

• Legacy also continues to offer women’s services across our hospitals and clinics, including the state-of-the-art Family Birth Center at Randall Children’s Hospital that opened in 2021.

Who seeks care at Mount Hood and its Family Birth Center?

• Mount Hood, a community hospital, serves a population of about 275,000 people who live in the east metro area communities. Its service area includes Boring, Estacada, Fairview, Gresham, Sandy, Troutdale, Wood Village.

• What’s important to know about is that 85% of babies born to pregnant people living in this service area deliver at a hospital other than Mount Hood, according to data captured by Apprise Health Insights, a subsidiary of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems.

How many babies are born at Mount Hood each year ?

• 720 babies were born at Mount Hood in 2021, the complete year when data are available.

• Between 2019 and 2021, Mount Hood’s births fell 17% from 925 to 720.

What does this closure mean for health care in Gresham and East County?

• Legacy Health is committed to serving our communities in East County. Most of our staff, providers and leaders are members of this community. 

• We will continue to invest at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center to serve the unique characteristics of our community where the 45 and older population is expected to grow fastest.

• In addition to our commitment to provide essential obstetric and gynecologic care to our community, we will focus on cancer treatment, cardiology, gastroenterology, musculoskeletal, neurosurgical, primary care and robotic surgeries. 

Is there capacity at Randall to serve patients from East County?

• Yes. Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel has capacity to welcome East County families to deliver their babies. Randall is Oregon’s most complete, state-of-the-art Family Birth Center. 

• Randall offers a team of medical experts to handle any situation, from low-risk pregnancies to high-risk births and has the highest designated neonatal intensive care unit in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

How do I learn more about the Family Birth Center at Randall Children’s Hospital?

• You learn more on the Randall Family Birth Center website.

• You can register for an in-person tour of Randall’s Family Birth Center now on our website.