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Monday, November 20th, 2023

A hospital’s abrupt closure means, for many, help is distant

Author:     Scott Wilson
Source:     The Washington Post
Publication Date:     November 16, 2023 | 5:22 p.m. EST
 Link: A hospital’s abrupt closure means, for many, help is distant
Stephan:  

The American healthcare system is an ongoing tragedy, particularly for women. You’ve seen the stories that I have done on what is happening in Red states, but the system is so bad that it is now happening in rural sections of Blue states as well. It continues to surprise me that Americans don’t seem to grasp the implications for their own lives on the benefits of universal birthright, single payer healthcare. If you vote for Republicans such a system is never going to happen. And if you vote for Democrats for heaven sake write them or call them, and tell them you want universal birthright single payer healthcare and you want it now.

The closure of Madera Community Hospital in January created a lack of health-care services in Madera, Calif.
Credit: Melina Mara / The Washington Post

MADERA, CALIFORNIA — There is no place in this county to give birth short of an emergency.

The only facility caring for adults, Madera Community Hospital, closed in January, leaving women in labor a 40-minute drive to the closest alternative in another county. Babies often cannot wait out the ride.

More than 1,000 women had delivered babies each year at Madera Community. Over just a couple of weeks this fall, with it closed, a woman gave birth in a car on the shoulder of Avenue 9 in downtown Madera. A second delivered her baby at Valley Children’s Hospital, which, while in Madera County, does not have a maternity ward and other doctors and services that would certify it for adult care. It is also a roughly half-hour drive away from the city center.

“When my kids feel sick, we’d just head over there,” Erika Castro, a 50-year-old maid who gave birth […]

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