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PNS - Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - Energy grid data center plans draw pushback in West Virginia; Small businesses brace for changes in 'One Big Beautiful Bill' and Pending SCOTUS arguments reignite thorny issue of campaign spending.
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By Kathleen Shannon - Producer, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - Providence Health System’s closure of Missoula’s St. Patrick Hospital came as a surprise to many workers. The Montana Nurses Association, which will begin related negotiations next week, argues the decision lacked transparency and transition planning. Comments by Robin Haux [HOWcks], labor program director, Montana Nurses Association; and Megan Carey, labor and delivery nurse, Family Maternity Center at Providence St. Patrick Hospital.
Click above for audio. The Montana Nurses Association said the decision from Providence Health Services to close St. Patrick Hospital's maternity center lacked "stakeholder input, transparency and transition planning." (Gorodenkoff/Adobe Stock)
Kathleen Shannon
July 1, 2025 - The multistate Providence Health System announced it will close the maternity center at one of its Montana hospitals in October.
Opponents are hoping the corporation will reverse its decision at negotiations starting next week. The Family Maternity Center at Missoula's Providence St. Patrick Hospital has delivered about 450 babies each year over the last several, and serves many people from the surrounding small towns.
Robin Haux, labor program director for the Montana Nurses Association, said the layoff notification came as a big surprise and will affect moms and babies, nurses and Missoula's other hospital.
"Not only were the nurses provided just a four-month turnaround, so was the community, so was Community Medical Center," Haux explained. "This has triggered a pretty large scrambling of trying to get prepared."
The cut comes as U.S. lawmakers close in on the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," the Republican budget megabill proposing cuts to Medicaid which could close rural hospitals. Providence said the closure is due to "declining birth volumes" and "workforce shortages."
Megan Carey, labor and delivery nurse in the Family Maternity Center at Providence St. Patrick Hospital, said no one from the Family Maternity Center was included in the decision.
"We were told there was a discernment team as well as external stakeholders," Carey pointed out. "It's just really disappointing that administration could not look inward to better go about this process."
Carey added Providence sent what she calls an "unsettling" message informing nurses they could apply to work in other departments at St. Patrick Hospital but there would not be enough jobs for them all.
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Click on the image above for the audio.
PNS - Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - NC Republican Thom Tillis denounces Medicaid cuts in Senate bill, over White House objections. NGOs say new work requirements for people in SNAP and Medicaid don't reflect reality. And President Trump says trade talks with Canada will restart.
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Click on the image above for the audio.
PNS - Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - Small businesses brace for changes in 'One Big Beautiful Bill'; Pending SCOTUS arguments reignite thorny issue of campaign spending; Politics and mental health are top factors in Gen Z college decisions.
