A number of healthcare organizations have recently closed medical departments or ended services at facilities to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or address staffing shortages.
Here are 10 department closures or services that are ending or have been announced, advanced or finalized that Becker's has reported since April 1:
1. Centerville, Ohio-based Miami Valley Hospital South, part of Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health, will discontinue operations at its level 3 trauma center May 1 as part of an ongoing healthcare operations review.
2. MercyOne's specialty clinic in Des Moines is ending gynecologic oncology surgical services June 1. A spokesperson told Becker's the primary reason for the closure was the inability to recruit a specialty physician.
3. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health is making changes with three Kansas clinics, effectively ending its operations in the state. Intermountain plans to close Duchesne Clinic in Kansas City on June 1 and to transfer the Marian Dental Clinic in Topeka, Kan., and the St. Vincent Clinic in Leavenworth, Kan., to Atchison (Kan.) Community Health Clinic, a federally qualified health center.
4. Columbia, Mo.-based University of Missouri Health Care shared plans to close two of its urgent care facilities and open an expanded urgent care clinic in Jefferson City, Mo., on May 30. The health system's urgent care location on Eastland Drive in Jefferson City closed April 21. Its Edgewood Drive urgent care location in Jefferson City will remain open until May 29.
5. Huntsville (Ala.) Hospital is closing its wellness center at the Medical Mall in Huntsville on July 1. The hospital, part of Huntsville (Ala.) Hospital Health System, made the decision to close the center to repurpose the space for clinical use.
6. Lewiston, Maine-based St. Mary's Health System will close its oncology practice, St. Mary's Center For Cancer and Blood Disorders, on July 1. The system and Portland-based MaineHealth are "entering into a more streamlined cooperative agreement in response to a fast-changing environment for healthcare delivery in Maine and beyond," a hospital spokesperson said. The system established a joint venture in 2021, but will now end it and return to an affiliate relationship.
7. Atmore (Ala.) Community Hospital is closing its surgery department June 1 due to low patient volumes, inflating costs and low reimbursement rates.
8. An Alabama hospital that was at the center of a state Supreme Court ruling on the status of frozen embryos said it would no longer provide in vitro fertilization treatments after this year. In a statement shared with Becker's, a spokesperson for Mobile, Ala.-based Infirmary Health hospital system said Infirmary Health has temporarily resumed IVF treatments at the hospital but will end the services after Dec. 31 "in light of litigation concerns surrounding IVF therapy."
9. Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica and Cleveland-based MetroHealth are closing their joint venture skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility at MetroHealth's Old Brooklyn Medical Center. New patients stopped being admitted to the skilled nursing facility April 1, with plans to close by early summer once existing patients have been transferred or released.
10. Regional Medical Center Health System plans to end inpatient services at Stringfellow Memorial Hospital in Anniston, Ala., and transition the emergency department to its main hospital campus.