Community Response to Los Alamos Medical Center Labor and Delivery Closure – Council Meeting 5/12/26

We view the removal of maternal care at Los Alamos Medical Center (LAMC) as a direct threat to the safety and stability of our families. Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 12, at 6:00 PM, the conversation moves from the living rooms of worried neighbors to the White Rock Fire Station 3, where the Los Alamos County Council will convene for a critical work session. We are calling on every resident to join us in White Rock to remind our leaders that the distance between “isolated” and “endangered” is exactly the 25 miles of mountainous road between us and the nearest delivery room. Local birth is not a luxury; it is the heartbeat of a functioning community, and it is time for our Council to fight for it as such.
This petition is a direct community response to Los Alamos Medical Center’s recent announcement that it will transition to a new obstetrics model that effectively ends labor and delivery services in Los Alamos. While the petition is formally addressed to LifePoint Health, residents believe the issue has significant implications for public safety, emergency preparedness, and long-term healthcare access within Los Alamos County.

Executive Summary: Community Response to LAMC Obstetrics Transition

The Core Issue

Community members are protesting the decision to discontinue local labor and delivery services and shift births to regional facilities in Española and Santa Fe. Residents argue that requiring pregnant patients to travel long distances over mountainous roads, including areas with limited cellular service, introduces additional risks during labor and obstetric emergencies.

Many residents view local maternal healthcare access as an essential public safety issue for an isolated community such as Los Alamos.

Key Concerns Raised by Residents

Emergency Response & Travel Risks

Residents describe situations involving precipitous labor, emergency deliveries, and pregnancy complications in which immediate access to local care was critical for maternal and infant safety. Community members are concerned that increased travel times may delay emergency treatment during labor or obstetric crises.

Stable Community Birth Rates

Petition organizers cite New Mexico Department of Health data indicating that Los Alamos County has averaged approximately 166 births per year since 2010. Residents argue that hospital delivery numbers may not fully reflect local demand because some patients report being redirected to outside facilities during periods of staffing instability or limited provider availability.

Concerns About Regional Capacity

Community members have also raised concerns regarding appointment availability, staffing shortages, and continuity of care within the proposed regional care model in Española and Santa Fe. Residents are asking whether surrounding facilities currently have sufficient capacity to absorb additional maternal care demand from Los Alamos County.

Professional Guidance on Rural Obstetric Care

The petition references guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which has cautioned that closure of rural or low-volume obstetric units can create unintended maternal-health risks related to travel distance, delayed emergency response, and reduced healthcare access.

Requests & Proposed Solutions

Petition organizers and residents are urging LAMC leadership to work collaboratively with the County, healthcare professionals, and community stakeholders to explore alternatives before fully eliminating local labor and delivery services.

Specific requests include:

• Recruiting and retaining consistent full-time obstetric providers, including OB/GYN physicians, midwives, anesthesiologists, and neonatal support staff.

• Ensuring that the Emergency Room is fully prepared and explicitly staffed to manage obstetric and neonatal emergencies if labor and delivery services are no longer locally available.

• Preserving local prenatal, postpartum, and childbirth education services to support families within Los Alamos County.

• Increasing transparency regarding staffing challenges, patient redirection practices, emergency transport planning, and long-term maternal healthcare strategy.

Community Sentiment

The petition reflects widespread concern, fear, and frustration among residents who view labor and delivery access as a vital community service. Many residents believe that when maternal emergencies occur, proximity to care can determine outcomes for both mothers and newborns.

Residents are asking County leadership to recognize maternal healthcare access not only as a hospital operational issue, but also as a broader public safety and community infrastructure concern for Los Alamos County.

The petition and Los Alamos Reporter article the activated the community is here

(we are sending this via email to the council to ensure they don't cancel the meeting due to "no items to discuss")

https://dusoma.com/lamc-labor-and-delivery-closure-council-meeting-5-12-26/

Cigar box at Smiths. Free. Weve been banned from the platform.

Take care. Dusoma.org

In the shadow of the world’s most advanced nuclear laboratory, Los Alamos is currently locked in a surreal political election standoff – two men (David Izraelevitz and Antonio L. Maggiore) and the core debate is whether the office itself should be eliminated. At the Dusoma Foundation, our question is “Why do we say there are no jobs when there is so much work on this earth to be done?

So we will use this election to illustrate this point, because as we face Los Alamos Medical Center shutting down Labor and Delivery, there is actually a lot we can do – from the County fighting it (article coming soon) to the “Rabbit Medical Transport” plan below that can get a patient to a Santa Fe hospital around the same speed as a helicopter.

The lucky duck who wins the role will earn roughly $7,900 a year. Yet, we will drop $35,000 in a single afternoon to fly a patient over a traffic jam because we haven’t coordinated a $100 police escort. So we recommend making this a $70k position, like everywhere else in NM, and then the job won’t be done by, essentially, a volunteer.

1. The Election

The Los Alamos Sheriff’s race has become a proxy war over the definition of “essential.”

Perspective	The “Abolitionist” View	The “Traditionalist” View
Core Goal	Win the election to legally dismantle the office and move its few tasks to the LAPD.	Maintain the office as a democratic “check” on law enforcement.
Main Reason	It’s a relic of the past that creates needless expense and potential legal liability.	The Sheriff is an elected official accountable to the people, unlike the appointed Police Chief.
Redundancy	LAPD and Lab security already cover 100% of the county’s needs.	Having a Sheriff ensures there is a “Constitutional” officer available if needed.

• The Cons: Critics point out that the Sheriff has no jail and no patrol mandate. The LAPD does the heavy lifting, leaving the Sheriff with little more than the sex offender registry. It feels like a 19th-century solution to a 21st-century administrative overlap.
• The Pros: Supporters argue that the Sheriff is the only law enforcement officer accountable to the voters, not an appointed manager. In a town dominated by “The Lab,”

2. The Pitchfork Party Proposal: Expansion into Advocacy

But what if the binary choice- keep it or kill it- is the wrong question? Imagine a Sheriff who wouldn’t look for criminals; they would look for friction. They would audit the “broken” intersections of town life—the opaque housing markets, the construction-choked streets, and the lopsided negotiations with federal entities. This is systems oversight, ensuring the “Secret City” actually works for the people who live there.

And the Sherriff could build the “Rabbit Medical Transport.”

3. The Labor of Necessity: The Santa Fe/ Espanola Death Run

We say there is “no work to be done,” yet our town is gasping. The recent shutdown of Labor and Delivery at LAMC is the perfect example. We are told the “logistics” don’t support it, leaving the ~150 pregnant women in town to navigate a 45-mile gamble to Santa Fe in an emergency (noting there are areas with no cell reception to call an ambulance).

Currently, when the “system” fails a laboring mother, we reach for the most expensive tool in the shed: the helicopter.

• The Helicopter Cost: A 15-minute flight to Santa Fe carries a base fee of roughly $15,000, with a total bill often exceeding $35,000. But with helicopter set up, it’s still 45 minutes total.
• The “Rabbit” Alternative: A Sheriff’s “Rabbit” escort—where a deputy clears intersections through Pojoaque—achieves a similar door-to-door arrival time (approx. 35–45 minutes) for a fraction of the cost.
• The Math of Neglect: A deputy’s hourly wage is about $34. Even factoring in vehicle wear and fuel, a high-speed escort costs the county less than $100.

The Rabbit Medical Transport system is 0.3% of the cost of a helicopter flight.

If the Sheriff’s Office facilitated just two successful escorts a month instead of two helicopter launches, the savings to the community (and the insurance pool we all pay into) would be over $70,000 a month. That is $840,000 a year—more than enough to fund a full-time advocacy department.

4. Why Are We Eliminating Roles that Could Improve the Town?

We say there is no work, yet mothers are being forced off the mesa to give birth in transit. We celebrate the “heroic” $40,000 helicopter flight because we’ve forgotten how to build a $100 road solution. The work is there—it’s in the canyons, on the roads, and in the gaps between our institutions. We just need a Sheriff brave enough to see the badge not as a relic, but as a tool for repair.

"Building the plane while we're flying it" is my least favorite business jargon. Because if you're flying on a plane that is not fully built and tested for quality, you will crash to the ground in a ball of flames and die.

just saying. Does Marie O'Neil ever sleep?? What a reporter!

Los Alamos National Lab Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis:
“We accomplished a great deal and showed a lot of progress. We met our pit production requirements and we also had significant progress with LAP4, which is the capital project to upgrade and modernize our pit production facility. The analogy I like to use when describing that effort is, it’s like you’re flying a plane full of passengers while you’re upgrading the plane. We’ve done all the easy things; we’ve replaced the carpet, we’ve covered the seats, now we’re rebuilding the engines. That’s really what we’re doing in PF4, our plutonium pit facility, so it takes a lot of collaboration, a lot of teamwork, and we’re making great strides,” he said."

What's even weirder is that he acts like he just invented this simile off the cuff. He seems to have no awareness that it's an incredibly popular business cliche: it's like building the plane while flying it. They should have that saying at Chernobyl.

https://losalamosreporter.com/2026/05/06/lanl-now-at-fourth-age-of-deterrence-stockpile-modernization-heart-and-soul-of-nuclear-weapons-enterprise-is-now-here-in-los-alamos-davis-tells-county-council/

This is rich. Los Alamos County, the wealthiest county in the U.S. does it again. So a while back I wrote about this malpractice legislation and how it was going to hurt patients and all you trolls attacked me.

Well now it's come home, and if a woman who lives in this very wealthy town (that just passed a 300,000,000 budget) goes into labor -- get in the car and drive fast, honey, because it's gonna be a one hour drive. And you know what's fun? The part of 502 that doesn't have reception, so you can't call an ambulance in certain parts along the way.

https://losalamosreporter.com/2020/05/19/obgyn-services-at-los-alamos-medical-center/

OK reddit trolls, don't let me down! Say that, hey, this is how we solve the medical shortage! Someone tell the mod!! And remember that AH who replied to my post and said "women need to take responsibility for their health?" - lets check in on her, she's probably throwing a party.

What's also outstanding is that if Marie O'Neill hadn't written about it, there would be no way to know. There is no announcement on the site, so you would have no idea.

I have signed the petition, but I'm going to have some talks and do some awareness and activism about this. If LANL wants 1300 people to live and work here, then we have a right to warn every family who moves here that this town's cruel ineptitude has reached a new level - "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds, starting with your children."

Very exciting.

"After a broad search, Los Alamos Community Foundation is pleased to announce the hiring of long-time community resident Alison Watkins as its new executive director, scheduled to start in the position on May 27.

Watkins, who grew up in Los Alamos and re-transplanted from Ft. Worth in 2011, was most recently employed by Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce Assistant Chamber Director.

“I hope to strengthen the relationships I’ve already built within our community while forming many new ones along the way,” said Watkins.

Watkins replaces Liz Martineau, who is moving to the Denver area to be closer to family. Watkins and Martineau will work together for several weeks during the transition.

Martineau said, “Alison has deep roots and is already an active member of our
community. We are excited for her leadership as the Community Foundation continues to grow, bringing donors together to make a positive impact in the community.”

LWV LA Candidate Forum is tonight, 04/30/2026 - 7:00pm/ UNMLA Student Center/ refreshments at 6:30 pm

In addition, you can search the Voting Guide PDF with Marla AI (Dusoma Foundation's "My Akashic Record Learning App")

Directions:

1. Using the League of Women Voters Voting Guide (a 25 page PDF) – we recommend you first review the guide to get the big picture. LINK TO LWV PDF.

2a. Then, for additional intelligent search (beyond keywords, we made a Marla-AI.ai app.

Marla-AI.ai – Who Should I Vote For

2b. If you answer these 5 multiple choice questions, it will show you the candidates you align with most closely. We also encourage you to generate additional questions to drill down further.

Answer these questions and paste it into the chat. Then ask “which candidates align most closely with my wants, needs and values?”

Housing vs. neighborhood character (density tradeoffs)
Which best matches your view?

• A) Prioritize adding housing even if it increases density/changes character (e.g., more infill, taller buildings, fewer parking minimums, ADUs)
• B) Add housing, but only with moderate limits/guardrails to protect character (some infill, limited height/density changes)
• C) Prioritize preserving existing neighborhood character, even if housing supply grows more slowly
• D) Not sure / depends on the specific project

1. How much growth (population/housing) should the County plan for?

• A) Aggressive growth (plan for major increase; affordability/workforce needs come first)
• B) Measured growth (some increase, but carefully paced)
• C) Minimal growth (keep growth low; focus on preserving current scale)
• D) Not sure

1. Where should growth go (land use strategy)?

• A) Mostly downtown infill/redevelopment (including mixed-use, taller buildings where allowed)
• B) Infill across existing neighborhoods (“gentle density”)
• C) New expansion areas (if possible), to reduce pressure on existing neighborhoods
• D) A balanced mix of the above / not sure

1. Top Capital Improvement Project (CIP) funding priority If you had to pick one “first priority,” which is it?

• A) Deferred infrastructure maintenance (core systems/maintenance backlog)
• B) Broadband / connectivity
• C) Public safety facilities (e.g., fire/police/safety-related facilities)
• D) Social services/health-related facilities
• E) ADA compliance / accessibility
• F) Parks/fields/ice rink & recreation maintenance
• G) Something else / not sure

1. Economic development approach (tools and style) Which approach do you prefer?

• A) Streamline permitting / reduce red tape to help businesses and housing move faster
• B) Use development incentives/tools like MRAs and LEDA to spur redevelopment and small business growth
• C) Focus on regional collaboration (e.g., partners like nearby pueblos/communities) and broader workforce strategies
• D) Not sure / mix depending on the project

Reply with your choices (e.g., 1B, 2B, 3A, 4A, 5C), and I’ll use your answers to align you with the candidates’ positions described in the guide.

Permalink on Starve Magazine