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Public and Newport City Council Send Clear Message to Brown Health: Keep Newport Hospital Birthing Center Open
July 16, 2025/
The Newport City Council met last night to consider a resolution asking Brown University Health, which now runs Newport Hospital (formerly run by Lifespan) to keep The Birthing Center open for women, babies and families of Newport County.
Former Mayor Xay Khhamsyvoravong has been very involved in leading the charge to save the program. Xay is also a member of the Newport City Council. He provided a summary of the meeting and steps individuals can take, while noting the Council’s positive action is only the first step in preventing Brown University Health from closing the service “for budgetary reasons”.
Here is his summary of the meeting and next steps:
“Tonight our community packed the house to capacity, sending a clear message that keeping the Birthing Center at Newport Hospital is our priority. I am thankful for all who showed up and who bravely shared their stories about the impact and importance of the Birthing Center on our community.
Our resolution was passed unanimously. This fight now moves out of our hands and to Brown Health and Newport Hospital.
Here’s what’s next: we’ll deliver our resolution and our message to Brown Health and Newport Hospital, but we need YOU to do the same.
Email Sarah Frost, EVP of Operations for Brown Health [email protected]
Call the Governor and ask that the Department of Health demand this critical part of our healthcare network be kept open
Talk to any community supporter of the Hospital you know to thank them for helping make Newport Hospital the special place it is, and asking them to do [these 2 steps, above, too].This is the first inning of a long fight to fix our broken system, but it’s going to take all of us.”
Notably, hospitals such as Memorial in Pawtucket and Landmark in Woonsocket, have a history of targeting their “maternity” programs for closure. This program is known to carry the highest premiums in medical malpractice insurance, as well as the highest risk. Memorial shuttered their “holistic” maternity program just a few years before closing the hospital entirely. Landmark saved its program with great community outcry after being told that women should travel to Women & Infants Hospital in Providence.
Here is our story about the possibility of the island’s only facility dedicated to supporting women in the birthing process, including pre-and-post natal care, education, etc: