LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A growing petition with thousands of signatures hopes to send a message to a Las Vegas Valley Hospital: keep the NICU, labor and delivery units open and running.
A petition to maintain services at Henderson Hospital has more than 2,000 signatures online, and according to organizer and nurse Kim Trower, around 900 nurses, doctors and staff have signed a paper petition.
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Valley Health System sent FOX5 the following statement:
“We are always evaluating service lines and at this time, we do not have any definitive plans to close the Women’s Services Department or NICU Department.”
Concerns began after a May 4 staff meeting, Trower tells FOX5.
“Women’s Services does involve labor and delivery, postpartum, and our level three NICU. It was mentioned to us in a meeting that there is a decision on the table that this unit might close,” Trower said. “We already have a maternal health crisis. We have a maternal care desert. And this will add to it. And that’s very scary for our community,” Trower said.
Nurse Olivia Beiler shares concerns for patients across the region.
“I’ve seen patients all the way from Laughlin, from Searchlight, from Bullhead [City], Arizona, Kingman, Arizona, Lake Havasu,” Beiler said.
“So many people are within minutes of this hospital, but for those people that have to travel so far– and then to think that they would have to travel even further, potentially, that’s what’s really hard to wrap my head around,” she tells FOX5.
The issue is a concern for City Councilwoman Carrie Cox; the hospital serves the booming Ward 3 population in Northeast Henderson.
“I stand shoulder to shoulder with nurses, doctors, and medical professionals that are on the front line fighting this, fighting for the labor and delivery unit and for the NICU unit to stay open at Henderson Hospital. These critical services are very important to our residents, and we must have them in Henderson,” Cox tells FOX5.
“It’s more than a line item on a spreadsheet. This is a lifeline for our community,” she said.
Cox worries about losing any more nurses in Nevada’s critical healthcare shortage; according to Nurse Journal, Nevada has around eight nurses for every 1,000 people.
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