At a meeting to address the Southwest Memorial Hospital board on Thursday evening, more than 100 residents expressed their fears, told personal stories of high-risk pregnancies and voiced disgust in the Cortez hospital’s management company, Community Hospital Corp.

Joe Thomason, vice president of CHC, opened the meeting with an apology for how the hospital’s planned closure of the birthing center was rolled out and for not listening to doctor concerns or asking for advice.

“I would be remiss if I didn't offer an apology,” he began. “I've apologized to the board members, I've apologized to the physicians that are impacted. I'll take that totally. Truly, in hindsight, it was really poorly executed, and that's all me.”

“The board has asked us after that to continue to work with the physicians to see what options are available. Is it possible to extend before we take the pause? Is it possible to not even pause and continue to go?” he said.

Some community members, one holding an infant, asked how much money Thomason was making and said there had to be other alternatives to closing the birthing center.

“You charge me $50,000 almost to have this baby,” one young mother said. “How much do you make?

Dr. Robert Heyl was the first to publicly speak, saying solutions should be offered instead of continuously rehashing the problem.

I think it needs to be a broader stakeholder forum where we can bring our experience, both with private practices, and also dealing with prior CEOs. We've had tremendous turnover of CEOs the last few years for various reasons. … We know what the problems are, now we need to develop solutions,” Heyl said.

Current and retired doctors spoke, including Cortez’s only pediatrician, Moriah Tarpey. Expectant mothers, fathers, members of the community and those who had received care for themselves and their babies in Cortez also spoke up.

Former hospital board member Chuck McAfee said he had multiple suggestions for helping the hospital retain its birthing center. The first, he said, was to fire CHC.

“If you can't fire them, send them home, even if you have to keep paying them,” McAfee said. “At least they won't be doing anything for us while they're here. They're causing damage, so get rid of CHC.”

He also urged the board to listen to their staff.

“I can't believe how smart the doctors and nurses are here. Ask them to help. I would argue that if you got its mostly doctors together and nurses together and starting to form pods of knowledge about running the hospital, you can far outperform what you currently are getting,” he said.

“We can't imagine what it would be like if we did not have a hospital. And when you say we’re not in immediate danger, I don't understand how you can come to that conclusion. You're losing doctors. You're losing nurses. You're losing people that are essential. You cannot say that we're not in danger of closing given the situation you've got, it makes no sense,” he said.

Dr. Eve Bruneau, a general surgeon who has contracted with SHS in the past and works in Shiprock, mentioned problems of retention.

“Unfortunately, you guys pushed away five primary care providers in the last six months,” she said. “These people are amazing. This place is beautiful. And you guys are like … it's rotting because of the mismanagement.”

Another nurse, who has been working at the hospital for 16 years, told her personal story of the lifesaving care she received at Southwest Memorial’s birthing center.

“You need to not look at just numbers. This is our community. This is our home. Many of these mothers would not be here today. I ask you to look at my daughter over here,” she said. “She was taken a month early by emergency C-section. You say, ‘OK, these people can be shipped out.’ There are mothers like me who were too sick or will be too sick to ship out. I would not have made it. I would not be standing before you today. Neither would that pretty little girl.”

Lindsay Yeager, who performed sleep studies at the hospital, said Dr. Erin Schmitt had helped her receive a diagnosis of endometriosis after years of pain, and helped her create a treatment plan to help her live her life without pain. She said she fears for all women in the county who would be affected if the birthing center were closed.

I respectfully request that you all go back to the drawing board,” she said. “Look for other ways to cut costs, increase revenue … turn all the dials that you can turn to keep the services intact. At minimum, please delay the closure, allow for safe and organized transitions of care, for staff to be trained and for planning to happen. My life and the lives of every woman in this room depends on you.”

“My youngest daughter had a complicated pregnancy and had a complicated birth,” one woman said. “She had preeclampsia and had an emergency C-section. She’s pregnant with her second child right now, and she’s terrified. Absolutely terrified, and the baby is due in November. She's going to have to drive to Durango. What happens if you can't? What happens if she can't make it?” she asked.

Others complained about the wait time for an appointment in Durango’s Mercy Hospital.

“Our hospital has abandoned young mothers, young women and children. Babies will die. I guarantee babies will die. That is something that's on your hands,” she said.

One man implored the board to change their decision, saying he was afraid to take his wife all the way to Durango when she goes into labor with the risk of severe winter road conditions.

“What am I supposed to do?” he asked. “I need to know where she's going to have her baby in November.”

Shannon, a medical assistant for Dr. Schmitt, asked the board and Thomason why it was the birthing center being cut.

Thomason responded by saying the birthing center was one of the departments with the highest cost, and added that locums, which cost over $5,000 a night, were also draining funds.

Others mentioned hiring a grant writer to help find grants that could help fund the birthing center and asked why minutes from past board meetings weren’t listed on the hospital’s website.

Tarpey tearfully spoke about the risk and harm that would be brought to women and children in the community, saying the fastest way to kill a hospital was to close its birthing unit.

“I have grown to love your children and your families,” Tarpey said. “None of us can stay here under these conditions in an unsafe environment.”

Cortez City Council member Lydia DeHaven credited Tarpey with helping to save her son’s life when he had low oxygen. “We were afraid we were going to lose him,” she said.

DeHaven criticized the way the planned closure was handled.

“This swift decision was made without any input from the city, the county, or public and its putting our women and babies at risk. As a council member, I would have appreciated a conversation with the city prior to making this decision,” she said.

Southwest Health System board member Shirley Jones explained that while the hospital is required to keep 80 days of operational cash on hand because they are in debt, it currently has only 69, which put the birthing center at risk.

The board said the hospital is $29 million in debt, down from around $40 million from a few years ago.

Mary Dodd, chairwoman of the Montezuma County Democrats, asked the board to consider partnering with a management company that routinely works with rural communities and hospitals.

Dodd and others criticized the board and Thomason for their lack of communication regarding the birthing center, open board seats and more, asking for more transparency.

Internal medicine physician Dr. Eleanor Emery pointed out that many rural hospitals in Colorado deliver fewer than 120 babies per year and are still able to keep their doors open. Southwest Memorial delivers about 160 babies per year.

“They are committed to keeping their birthing centers open despite their own financial challenges. So why aren't we talking to them? Why aren't we working with our rural hospital colleagues learning from public health professionals and researchers that are studying this instead of taking CHC’s playbook and just cutting and running? We are not the first people to face this challenge,” Emery said.

Those in attendance wished to hear from interim CEO David Faulkner, saying Thomason had been doing all the talking for him, but Faulkner passed on the opportunity to address the crowd.

“Do you want us to bring our dead mothers and babies to your door after you close?” one asked Faulkner.

Jim Spratlen, Montezuma County’s emergency manager, said the closure of the birthing center would stretch emergency services thin, hurting ER response.

Rhonda Russel, one of the administrators who was laid off Wednesday, told the board and Thompson that while they didn’t know any of the doctors, she has spent years forming a relationship with them, and that they deserved better.

“If I thought losing my job would save the birthing center, I would gladly give up my job,” she said.

“The numbers aren’t what fix it,” Russel said. “It’s the resources, and I’m going to tell you where the gold is. The gold is in the minds and abilities of your staff. If you want processes fixed, you need to consult your staff.”

Many others who spoke called for the immediate firing of CHC.

Despite repeated questions about whether or not the birthing center would actually close, the board and Thompson said they were exploring their options.

At the end of the meeting, the board and Thomason said they would have a more concrete answer about the fate of the birthing center at the beginning of next week.

Their next board meeting will take place on June 28.