About ten months ago, two nurses approached Newport City Councilmembers Xay Khamsyvoravong and Stephanie Smyth, Representative Lauren Carson, and Senator Louis DiPalma to say that Brown University Health planned on closing the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center at Newport Hospital.
“We checked the news,” said Khamsyvoravong. “We didn’t see anything in the news about this. We dug deeper and pressed our sources, and we found out that, as always, the nurses were telling the truth.
“What I heard in their voices was the frustration that my mother felt over the 40 years that she worked as a pediatrician within a healthcare system that was more and more focused on billing codes than patient care. What I heard in their voices was the absolute fear that my wife felt when she lost not only her primary care physician, but her gynecologist, within months of each other, and then the sheer l frustration she had with the system when it took her nearly a year to find a replacement for those practitioners.
“What I heard in their voices was a reality that we are here to confront today, which is that for all the stories that we’ve been reading about a failing healthcare system, for all the reports that are being done out there, the reality is that that moment is here and the system is at a critical breaking point.
“Even if you aren’t affected by the potential closing of the Birthing Center at Newport Hospital, you will be next, or you’ll be the one shortly thereafter, because the reality is that Newport’s Birthing Center is the canary in the coal mine of the healthcare crisis that is rapidly escalating around us.”
Khamsyvoravong was emceeing a rally at the Rhode Island State House, organized by Representative Carson (Democrat, District 75, Newport) where a coalition of birthing center supporters, including the Coalition for Newport Hospital Birthing Center, Aquidneck Island families, community leaders, and health care providers called for stronger support for the island’s only birthing unit, saying it shouldn’t just be saved from closure — it should be equipped to grow and continually provide the latest state-of-the-art maternal care.
Here’s the video:
“We are heartened by Brown Health’s announcement last week that it would keep the birthing center open, but we want to know that this excellent facility is going to be provided the resources it needs to thrive now and into the future” said Representative Carson, who has been fighting to keep the center open since it was initially targeted for closure by Brown University Health last year. “The Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center has long been an outstanding provider of maternal health services to our community, and we want to make sure it stays at the cutting edge. We are concerned about its funding and about its future when Brown Health’s Massachusetts facilities are running deep in the red. We need a firm commitment to maternal health on Aquidneck Island and throughout our state.”
After considering a plan last summer to shutter the Stonor Drexel Birthing Center— the only birthing center on Aquidneck Island — Brown University Health first announced it would keep it open for another year while considering its future, then on Friday announced that it planned to keep the birthing center open, but wants an additional $4.9 million annually from the state or donors to sustain it.
“While Brown University Health’s announcement that they will keep the Birthing Center open represents an important step forward, questions remain about Brown’s specific plan to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the Birthing Center,” said Cassie Voll, chair of the Coalition for Newport Hospital Birthing Center.
Supporters at yesterday’s event pushed for a more robust long-term commitment, calling for the passage of a package of legislation sponsored by Representative Carson to ensure a strong future for the birthing center and maternal health on Aquidneck Island and statewide. Those bills, heard by the House Health and Human Services Committee after the rally, would prohibit the closure or significant reduction of services of a birthing center without notice, application, financial disclosure, a public hearing and Department of Health approval (H7272); condition state funding or grants for Brown University Health on the continued operation of the birthingcenter (H8203); and enact the Rhode Island Maternal Health Improvement and Equity Act of 2026 (H7626) to establish permanent statewide support for maternal health and to implement the maternal health strategic plan improving maternal health care and access.
At the event, the Coalition for Newport Hospital Birthing Center released its report entitled “Protecting the Future of Maternity Care in Newport County: How the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center is Critical to the Health of the Aquidneck Island and East Bay Communities.” The report found that the birthing center provides vital in-hospital maternity care for women on and around Aquidneck Island, serves a population more than sufficient to sustain it, and contributes substantially to Newport County’s economic health.
“While Brown University Health’s announcement that they will keep the Birthing Center open represents an important step forward, questions remain about Brown’s specific plan to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the Birthing Center,” said Cassie Voll, chair of the Coalition for Newport Hospital Birthing Center and co-founder of Moms over Margins, the community group formed to fight for the continued operation of the birthing center. “We hope that this report serves as the beginning of an open and transparent dialogue with the leadership at Brown University Health and Newport Hospital about not just sustained investment in the Birthing Center, but a robust, long-term strategy that meaningfully incorporates community feedback in decision-making about this vital regional resource.”
See also: Moms Over Margins rallies to save the birthing center at Newport Hospital.
Supporters at the rally noted that the sustainability of the birthing center, while critical to families on the island who would have to drive about 40 minutes off-island to another birthing facility, also impacts the entire state.
“Women & Infants Hospital already delivers 80% of babies in Rhode Island, and we are in the midst of a critical staffing and retention crisis,” said Melissa Blais, a registered labor and delivery nurse at Women & Infants Hospital. “Short staffing puts patient safety, staff well-being, and our professional licenses at risk every single day. Even though we are encouraged by the announcement that the Newport Hospital’s Birthing Center will stay open, many questions remain about its future. I cannot imagine how our already overstretched system would cope with the influx of expectant parents if the Newport Birthing Center were to close. As the report has shown, Rhode Island already has a relatively small number of hospitals that provide maternity services. This means that every center that offers this care is important not just to the local families who rely on it, but to the broader healthcare system.”
Press release:
New Report Finds Newport Hospital Birthing Center Critical to Access and Economy in Newport County
The Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center delivers critical maternity care, supports the regional economy, and serves a population large enough to sustain long-term operations.
Access the report here: https://primarycareforallamericans.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Final-Master-Birthing-Center-Report-4.7.docx.pdf
Providence: The Coalition for Newport Hospital Birthing Center released a new white paper today, “Protecting the Future of Maternity Care in Newport County: How the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center is Critical to the Health of the Aquidneck Island and East Bay Communities,” following Brown University Health’s new announcement that the Birthing Center will remain open. The report finds that amidst a nationwide decline in hospitals offering obstetric services, the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center fulfills a significant role in sustaining access to safe maternity care for the region’s population while contributing substantially to the local economy.
“As Chair of the Coalition for Newport Hospital Birthing Center and Co-founder of Moms Over Margins, I’m pleased to announce the publication of a white paper that clearly articulates what our group of community advocates, medical professionals, and concerned residents has long maintained: local maternal care is essential to the health, safety, and equity of our community,” said Cassie Voll. “Developed in collaboration with Primary Care for All Americans, SEIU 1199NE, Women’s Resource Center, the Newport Health Equity Zone, and Newport Partnership for Families, this report thoroughly examines what’s at stake, presents unique findings based on an analysis of publicly available data, and offers thoughtful recommendations to sustain the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center in the long term.”
The report finds The Newport Birthing Center:
●Provides vital in-hospital maternity care for women on and around Aquidneck Island: With Rhode Island’s relatively small number of hospitals providing maternity services, maintaining hospital-based local maternity services at Newport Hospital plays a significant role in sustaining access to timely obstetric care for the region’s population.
●Serves a population more than sufficient to sustain it: The Birthing Center delivers close to 500 babies annually, with more than 300 recorded in just the first half of 2025 alone. It is the third-busiest labor and delivery unit in Rhode Island, and the only unit with a consistent straight-A rating in reports released by the Leapfrog Group.
●Contributes substantially to Newport County’s economic health: The direct economic impact of the Birthing Center is an estimated ~$2.7M annually. With the output multiplier of 1.9, the ripple effects of this direct impact total $5.1M in overall economic activity in Newport County.
“While Brown University Health’s announcement that it will keep the Birthing Center open represents an important step forward, questions remain about Brown’s specific plan to ensure the Birthing Center’s longevity and sustainability,” added Voll. “We hope that this report serves as the beginning of an open and transparent dialogue with the leadership at Brown University Health and Newport Hospital about not just sustained investment in the Birthing Center, but a robust, long-term strategy that meaningfully incorporates community feedback in decision-making about this vital regional resource.”
To maintain key access to safe, quality obstetrics care in Newport County, the report recommends:
1) The Birthing Center continues to be fully resourced, so it thrives and grows;
2) the establishment of an independent community council to provide oversight and support of the Birthing Center;
3) the development of a staffing plan or a regional maternity care collaborative in collaboration with Rhode Island’s other maternity hospitals and the Department of Health;
4) the creation of a robust marketing plan to grow the number of pregnancies served and improve payer mix; and 5) the consideration of a family medicine residency and/or a postgraduate family medicine obstetrics fellowship to help staff the birthing center and address the primary care needs of Newport County, now and into the future.
As maternity services continue to disappear nationwide, the report concludes that protecting the Newport Hospital Birthing Center will be critical to maintaining equitable access to maternity care for families across Aquidneck Island and the East Bay.
Report authors include: Primary Care for All Americans, SEIU 1199NE, Moms Over Margins, Women’s Resource Center, Newport Partnership for Families, and the Newport Health Equity Zone - all part of The Coalition for Newport Hospital Birthing Center.
The treating of healthcare as simply a business decision is disgusting. Focusing on the bottom line means more people get sick and die.