RENSSELAER COUNTY LEADERS PROTEST STATE’S REFUSAL TO SHARE BIRTH RECORDS AS BURDETT BIRTH CENTER CLOSURE IS DISCUSSED
New York State should shelve consideration for the proposed closure of the Burdett Birth Center based on the state’s refusal to provide records on births in the county, County Executive Steve McLaughlin and Public Health Director Mary Fran Wachunas.
The county requested records on the live births in the county six months ago, with Wachunas making the request in her capacity as Public Health Director. The state has not provided the records.
McLaughlin was among the first public officials to oppose the closure of the Burdett Birth Center. Burdett is the only birth center in Rensselaer County and would also impact river communities in Albany and Saratoga counties.
“The failure to provide these records means the public will not know the full extent of the impact a closure of Burdett would have. That is a disservice to the public, particularly in the areas served by Burdett,” said McLaughlin.
“Without these records being provided to the public, the application to close the Burdett Birth Center should be stopped. Steps should be taken to ensure these records are provided without further delay and that the public is fully informed about the real impacts of the closure,” added Wachunas.
McLaughlin has on several occasions requested that Governor Hochul order her health commissioner to reject the Burdett closure proposal. The lack of records for the births is further reason for the rejection of the Burdett closure proposal.
Wachunas said she asked for access to birth records maintained on the state health records system. The county is able to easily access similar records for communicable diseases and other public health documents.
“These are the types of records that are regularly provided to health departments across the state. There is no good reason we can see for these records on births in Rensselaer County to not be made readily available to our department as this closure plan is being discussed,” said Wachunas.
“Without these records, how will we know how many are potentially affected by a closure? It seems like very basic information that is exceptionally relevant to this important issue,” added Wachunas.