Minnesota State Representative Mary Franson called out Kettering Health Network, Friday night, after the hospital system announced that they enforce social distancing between newborns and their mothers.
Kettering is an Ohio-based hospital system that said in a statement via their official Facebook profile on Monday that babies born in their facilities will be kept 6 feet away from their mothers at most times in accordance with social distancing practices. Although their original comment declaring this policy appears to have since been deleted, the hospital network responded to Facebook users asking about the policy, Friday. In their clarifying remarks, Kettering did not disavow the enforcement of social distance between mothers and their babies.
Alpha News contacted Kettering to decisively confirm whether or not a mother and child duo who both test negative for COVID-19 would be allowed to forgo social distancing practices with regards to each other. The hospital’s media representative was not available for comment but this article will be updated if a statement is received.
Franson retweeted with comment a screenshot of Kettering’s first statement, Friday night and gave Alpha News an additional statement, Saturday.
“During this difficult time, the health and safety of more vulnerable members of our communities is of the utmost importance. However, it is also important that we do not discount logic or disregard the role of basic humanity as we battle the coronavirus. I am disturbed to hear that a midwestern hospital system has enacted a policy that separates mothers from their newborn infants during the critical moments when the two should be bonding,” she said.
Franson is correct that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has urged hospitals to discharge active coronavirus cases to nursing homes in the name of increasing available hospital space. This may have contributed to Minnesota’s high coronavirus-related mortality rate among residents of long term care facilities. No other state can attribute such a staggering percentage of its COVID-19 related deaths to nursing homes alone, according to analysis from the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
