A N.Y. hospital tried to close its birthing center. This city united to fight back

Y. hospital tried to close its birthing center. This city united to fight back Democrats and Republicans in Troy, N. Y., took on a national Catholic health system and kept the county's last birthing center open. Y. hospital tried to close its birthing center. This city united to fight back September 1, 20265:00 AM ET From By  Noam Levey State Assembly member John T. McDonald III (center), a Democrat, worked to secure $5 million in state funding to help keep the Burdett Birth Center open in Troy, N. Katherine Bruno/Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood hide caption toggle caption Katherine Bruno/Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood TROY, N. Y. — Like many residents of this aging industrial city on the Hudson River, Starletta Washington was stunned when she heard Troy's last remaining hospital planned to close its birthing center. "It was devastating," said Washington, who heads the local YWCA. Washington was born at the hospital and had her children there. She couldn't believe families would now have to get to a hospital half an hour away or face the prospect of an emergency delivery. "Nobody else was going to be born in the city of Troy unless they were born on a city bus, in the back of a cab, or, disgustingly, on the side of the street?" Washington said. "Blew my mind." For stories on the science of healthy living, NPR's Health . Troy wasn't the first community to face this prospect. Since 2010, hospitals have closed hundreds of maternity units as cities and towns shrink and hospitals consolidate into larger systems. Troy found a more hopeful ending. Starletta Washington, who heads the YWCA in Troy, N. Y., was born at the hospital where Burdett Birth Center is located. Like many in the community, she says she was blindsided 's plan to close the center. Hannah Norman/KFF Health News hide caption toggle caption Hannah Norman/KFF Health News Elected officials from both major parties joined patient advocates, mothers, midwives, doulas and community leaders like Washington to challenge Trinity Health, the large Catholic health system that owns Troy's hospital and birthing center. The campaign even united Planned Parenthood and the Catholic diocese. "Whether you were Republican or Democrat, or if you didn't vote, it literally brought everyone together," said Carmella Mantello, the city's Republican mayor. "Everyone just said, 'We can't let this happen.'" Throughout the country, healthcare remains a flash point as politicians square off ahead of November's elections.