![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/VTD-Bratt-hospital-12-1200x900.jpg\")
The Brattleboro Memorial Hospital campus on Belmont Avenue. Photo by Kevin O\u2019Connor\/VTDigger<\/p>\nThe Brattleboro Memorial Hospital campus on Belmont Avenue. Photo by Kevin O\u2019Connor\/VTDigger<\/p>\n
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital\u2019s board of directors voted to close the hospital\u2019s birthing services, according to an email sent to staff Wednesday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The news comes amid intense financial precarity<\/a> and executive-level strain at the hospital. The hospital said its obstetrics unit lost $3.8 million in 2025. Its leaders predicted a loss of $4.8 million in 2026.<\/p>\n There are no current changes to patient care, and the hospital intends to take the next six to nine months to close the services and find alternatives, the interim co-CEOs, Dr. Elizabeth McLarney and Dr. Tony Blofson, wrote in their email to staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe acknowledge that we need to keep this hospital open. When we took over, the lack of knowledge and understanding about finances at this institution was pretty astounding, and we have been working really hard to kind of rebuild the foundation,\u201d McLarney said in an interview.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Outrage from community members has been swift and resounding. Overnight, a \u201cSave Birth at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital<\/a>\u201d website popped up, with a list of contacts, a donation link and upcoming opportunities to protest.\u00a0<\/p>\n In early June, the hospital issued a press release \u201creaffirm(ing) its commitment to providing high-quality maternity care close to home,\u201d even as it faced financial challenges. But weeks later, that stance has appeared to change.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really heartbroken by this,\u201d Emily Martyn, a midwife at the hospital, told VTDigger in an interview. She said she was born there, as were her mother, grandmother and her children. \u201cI feel very blindsided by the board. We were not expecting this to happen now.\u201d<\/p>\n She estimates that about 50 staff members will lose their jobs directly, though she expects the closure to have ripple effects on other services at the hospital.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time in recent years a Vermont hospital has wanted to cut its birthing services. In November, Copley Hospital in Morrisville closed its birthing center<\/a>. Copley\u2019s closure prompted the state to revise \u2014\u00a0and then re-revise \u2014\u00a0its process<\/a> for approving hospital service closures. Currently, the Vermont Agency of Human Services oversees closure work as part of its broader hospital restructuring project<\/a>. Still, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital needs to seek public input before it can end its birthing services.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Brattleboro hospital said it is working with the agency and the governor\u2019s office to identify ways to preserve local access to obstetric care.\u00a0<\/p>\n The next closest hospitals with birthing services are Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, New Hampshire, and Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Martyn and others who have spoken out against the board\u2019s decision worry about the safety risks of shuttering birthing services. Since Springfield Hospital closed its birthing program in 2019<\/a>, the Brattleboro hospital has become the destination for many people giving birth in the area. The hospital is especially important for high-risk births, for which radiologists, pediatricians and other higher-acuity care doctors are on hand.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re the last ones. There\u2019s no safety net, which is really terrifying,\u201d Martyn said. \u201cThis is not the end of birth at BMH, it\u2019s the end of safe birth at BMH. People are still going to show up in the emergency department and still going to have babies here.\u201d<\/p>\n