NEWS RELEASES
Legacy Health statement on Mount Hood Family Birth Center - March 17
Friday, March 17, 2023 — Tonight’s gathering outside the Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center is a way for people to express their feelings about changes at the Family Birth Center, and we respect everyone’s right to share their feelings.
We understand that this change has significant impact on our community, particularly for expectant people and families who were planning to give birth at Mount Hood Medical Center. We deeply empathize with the stress and uncertainty this may cause and understand that the birth of a child is one of the most important events in a family's life.
We want to emphasize to our community that Legacy will continue to provide women’s health services at Mount Hood Medical Center. Those services include:
- Our obstetrics and gynecology doctors, and midwives will continue to serve East County for women’s services in their 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.
Oregon Health Authority Waiver Process
On March 6, Legacy filed a waiver to seek the Oregon Health Authority’s approval to close the Mount Hood Family Birth Center. Today, Legacy will submit information to respond to the Oregon Health Authority’s questions. We appreciate the thorough and focused approach the Oregon Health Authority is bringing to this important process, and we look forward to continuing this conversation with them.
Starting today, we will have no new elective admissions at the Mount Hood Family Birth Center. We will essentially operate on divert status for labor and delivery while the OHA is reviewing our waiver request. All scheduled deliveries will move to the Family Birth Center at Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel. Pregnant people who arrive at Legacy Mount Hood with a pregnancy-related care need will be seen by a provider and then transferred to Randall Children’s for further care.
For more information, please visit our Frequency Asked Questions page for the Mount Hood Family Birth Center.
