Chestnut Hill Hospital

We didn't expect to end up in Chestnut Hill Hospital for Tobias' birth -- it's not our new neighborhood, and would be too far a trek to make sense. In fact, I hadn't heard of the hospital until Jo's water broke. We obviously ended up there anyway, for a variety of reasons.

And the people were amazing. The nurses were encouraging and cheerful. The lactation specialists were friendly and helpful. And everybody -- everybody -- acted as if our child was the most amazing, unique little guy in the world; there was no jadedness among the staffers, and that made the hospital feel like a welcome place to start our new lives as parents.

So, just days after Tobias' birth, I'm shocked and saddened to learn this:

Citing financial stresses, Chestnut Hill Hospital said yesterday that it would stop delivering babies by Nov. 4 and close its maternity unit Nov. 7. Seventy hospital employees will lose their jobs.

We probably met about a dozen of those people. They have our gratitude, and our good wishes.