NUMC closes maternity services indefinitely
Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow last year. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Nassau University Medical Center, the county’s only public hospital for low-income and uninsured people, closed its maternity ward Thursday after reopening last month following a May 1 suspension of most deliveries.
The East Meadow hospital had been diverting deliveries to area hospitals before reopening on June 12 as a Level 1 maternity department, accepting only pregnant women under 35 years of age, beyond 36 weeks gestation, with no complications or pre-existing conditions that would lead to a delivery complications.
For years, NUMC operated a Level III obstetrics program, among the highest designations of maternal care, treating some of the most complex cases, including in its neonatal intensive care unit. Hospital officials confirmed to Newsday on Friday that unit is also closed.
Thomas Stokes, the hospital's chief executive, said the department had "rigorous monitoring in place" when it reopened as a limited Level 1 unit.
"That monitoring exists for exactly this purpose. In the weeks since reopening, it has become clear that our teams need additional time and training, and the program requires a deeper review, before we can deliver care at the standard our patients deserve," Stokes said in a statement.
As opposed to the suspension that began in May, the maternity department will stay shuttered for an unspecified period but hospital officials say they are committed to reopening for services.
"We will resume services only when we are confident this program meets the standard our community expects," Stokes said when asked when the maternity department would reopen.
There were 46 deliveries in the unit after the May temporary closure was lifted, with 15 transferred to other hospitals. Before the suspension, NUMC delivered more than 725 babies annually, or about two per day, according to hospital data. In the last four weeks, there were no known reported incidents at the ward, a hospital official said.
The majority of expectant mothers who rely on NUMC have incomes below the federal poverty line and receive some form of public assistance, including Medicaid, the federal program for the poor and disabled. Generally, low-income women are more likely to present with comorbidities and face barriers to accessing regular and early prenatal care, research has shown.
NUMC's state-appointed leadership asked the state Health Department to approve the temporary closure in May after an independent consultant was brought in to review patient safety. The hospital had worked with surrounding maternity units to ensure affected patients have access to nearby services and many had gone to the Katz Women's Hospital at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, on the Queens border.
Providers and many women — some of whom expressed fear of immigration enforcement and unfamiliar new healthcare teams in the final weeks of their pregnancies — rushed to redo birth plans during the suspension.
The Leapfrog hospital rating group in its Spring 2026 report card gave NUMC a "D" grade, the lowest of all of the hospitals in Nassau and Suffolk counties, a majority of which received an "A" highlighting a significant gap in care quality.
NUMC is the 530-bed teaching hospital that is part of the health system run by Nassau Health Care Corp., which operates as a public benefit corporation. More than a year ago, facing about a $1.4 billion in debt and growing annual deficits in the millions, Gov. Kathy Hochul through the state budget restructured the governance of the health system to transfer power from county to state lawmakers.
Stokes, who came to NUMC in January from Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, vowed to turnaround the hospital system beginning with stabilizing its finances, upgrading its infrastructure and raising patient care scores.
In June, Hochul appointed Richard Kessel, the former chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, the county's state-appointed fiscal monitor, to lead the hospital's board following a major infusion of state aid.
"This situation reflects years of mismanagement of this program, and we will not allow them to continue," Kessel said in a statement. "This is solely a patient-safety decision. We would rather pause this program — twice, or more, if that is what patient safety requires — than operate below the standard our patients deserve."
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Nassau University Medical Center closed its maternity ward again after reopening as a limited Level 1 unit, citing the need for additional time, training, and review to meet patient care standards.
- The hospital, which serves low-income and uninsured patients, faced challenges including a "D" grade from Leapfrog and financial difficulties, prompting state intervention and leadership changes.
- The indefinite closure aims to ensure patient safety, with plans to resume services only when standards are met, while affected patients are redirected to nearby hospitals.
Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.
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