Daily News photo Wisconsin-based Aspirus Health has announced it will end OB/GYN services at its Ironwood facility in Gogebic County.

LANSING — Four Upper Peninsula legislators reacted with “frustration and anger” Monday to Wisconsin-based Aspirus Health’s decision to cease birthing services at its Ironwood facility in Gogebic County at the end of the year.

In making the announcement Friday, Aspirus stated that “persistent national and regional OB/GYN shortages were a driving factor in the decision.” It said Aspirus Ironwood Hospital and Clinics will “transition” maternal care to “a new model that ends labor and delivery on Dec. 31, while continuing high-quality prenatal and postnatal care for local families.”

The Wausau, Wis.- based Aspirus added in the news release that fewer than 40% of rural hospitals nationwide now perform routine deliveries, citing declining volumes, workforce shortages and quality concerns.

“It’s totally outrageous that they spring this on the community and on a Friday just to take the heat off of them for a weekend,” state Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, said in a news release Monday. “No one called or gave notice to any of us about this before it happened. This is now the second time they have sprung such a huge surprise on the U.P., along with other recent changes and failing to use the money from the state, undermining any credibility to their claims of caring about the future of our communities. The U.P. — bigger than at least six states — is left with six places to have a baby other than your home or car.”

The latest announcement follows Wausau, Wis.-based Aspirus’ closure of its Ontonagon facility in 2023, the ending of OB/GYN services at one of its Keweenaw facilities and the recent laying off almost all the certified nursing assistants at its Iron River clinic.

“Last time, Aspirus lied to my face about Ontonagon being closed a few days later,” said Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock. “This time, it was crickets from them about even needing help — something so many other, responsible businesses, schools and hospitals do. This closure is a betrayal of the people in my district by a company that has promised to provide services to them and received state dollars to do so.”

In their news release, the legislators stated that when Aspirus closed Ontonagon’s hospital in 2023, McBroom and Markkanen — with help from the rest of the U.P. team — were able to get more than $1 million to help the Ironwood facility’s OB/GYN services. The company has apparently never used the money, the legislators stated.

The closure left residents of Ontonagon, Gogebic and Iron counties with huge distances and state lines to cover for OB/GYN services — up to well over two hours in good weather for some. “This is a very bitter pill to swallow,” said Rep. Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River. “The west end of the U.P. continues to suffer from the carelessness and neglect of the state, and now a hospital that makes promises to the community but fails to deliver. The providers and governor asked for Medicaid expansion but now blame the program for their inability to succeed and demand more funding from taxpayers.”

“The people of the U.P. are determined to stay and strengthen their communities,” said Rep. Karl Bohnak, R-Deerton. “We are all committed to finding a solution to this latest blow by helping the communities of the west end grow and prosper again so that such closures and betrayals are a thing of the past.”

The Michigan Nurses Association also put out a statement Friday condemning the move, which they said wasn’t communicated to OB nurses at the Ironwood hospital until Friday morning.

“Nurses are outraged that Aspirus is cutting even more health care for the U.P. and we are extremely worried about women who will now have to drive another 45 minutes to Ashland or another Wisconsin hospital to have their baby — or those who end up in an emergency,” Ashley Thompson, an OB nurse at the hospital, stated in a news release. “Our emergency department nurses are amazing but they do not have the specialized training to deal with a problematic childbirth, when both lives are at risk. It’s just body blow after body blow by Aspirus, with no regard to the fact that they’re leaving our community without the care they need.”