Munson Healthcare Manistee Hospital is closing their maternity unit on May 31. Many residents criticized that plan at a town hall on Saturday.
Jessica Cracraft is 28 weeks pregnant and says she planned on giving birth at the hospital.
"I don't want to have to go to a new hospital. I don't want to have new nurses, and I don't want to have a new doctor," Cracraft said. "I only have 11 weeks left."
State Representative Jack O’Malley (R-Lake Ann) said the closure will make Manistee less attractive to young people.
Hospital administrators from Munson spoke at the meeting and said patients can still get some prenatal and postnatal care in Manistee. But they directed mothers in labor to their facility in Cadillac, which is about an hour away.
“We know this is a brutal decision,” said Chief Nursing Officer Kelly Tomascewski.
