More than 100 residents and healthcare workers rallied at the Carroll County Courthouse in Mt. Carroll Wednesday night, voicing opposition to FHN Memorial Hospital’s upcoming closure of its Family Birthing Center. The hospital has announced plans to shutter the maternity unit by April 1st, prompting fears that local mothers will face dangerous travel distances—over 30 miles—to deliver babies in either Rockford or Madison, Wisconsin.
Protesters, citing risks to maternal and infant health, called for urgent action and pledged to bring their concerns to the FHN board’s next meeting in Freeport. The hospital has yet to respond publicly…