james blue
Idaho’s Bonner General Health, the only hospital in Sandpoint, announced Friday afternoon that it will no longer provide obstetrical services to the city of more than 9,000 people, meaning patients will have to drive 46 miles for labor and delivery care moving forward……….
…………The hospital’s board of directors and senior leadership called the decision an emotional and difficult one in the press release, and cited a loss of pediatricians, changing demographics and Idaho’s legal and political climate around health care as the reasons for the decision………..
……“Without pediatrician coverage to manage neonatal resuscitations and perinatal care, it is unsafe and unethical to offer routine labor and delivery services,” ……………
………..The release also said highly respected, talented physicians are leaving the state, and recruiting replacements will be “extraordinarily difficult.”
Idaho has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, with affirmative defenses in court only for documented instances of rape, incest or to save the pregnant person’s life. Physicians are subject to felony charges and the revocation of their medical license for violating the statute, which the Idaho Supreme Court determined is constitutional in January.
R&I – TxPAT