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 13 department closures or services that are ending or have been announced, advanced or finalized that Becker's reported since July 1:
1. East Kingston, N.H.-based Exeter Hospital is planning to shutter its advanced life support paramedic intercept program due to financial challenges and changing care demands. The hospital cited "dramatically rising costs, changing patient care trends and a challenging reimbursement environment," as primary drivers behind the decision to discontinue the service. Hospital and state officials met Sept. 12 to discuss a plan for shuttering the service, which the hospital provides to nearby cities and towns under contract. As the contracts include a clause requiring a 90-day notice of termination, Exeter Hospital will maintain the service through at least Dec. 20.
2. Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente will close its last skilled nursing facility in the country, the Kaiser Permanente Post Acute Care Center in San Leandro, Calif., the health system said in a Sept. 10 statement. The closure, which began in June, will result in the loss of 249 jobs. The last patients were transitioned from the facility by the end of July. The facility is expected to be fully closed by mid-November. Kaiser said it is working with employees and union officials to find other positions within Kaiser Permanente. The system said it will also assist employees who are not able to find another position within the system.
3. University of Southern California Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale will close its labor and delivery services, along with its neonatal intensive care unit, on Nov. 20. The decision was based on an examination of services at the hospital, community needs and shifting demographics, a spokesperson for the hospital
4. MercyOne Newton (Iowa) Medical Center is pausing its labor and delivery services indefinitely, effective after Oct. 15 due to Newton Clinic ending its recruitment of physicians who are dedicated to labor and delivery obstetrics services. In an Aug. 30 joint statement from Newton Clinic and MercyOne Newton Medical Center, shared with Becker's, Newton Clinic pointed to a "decade of significant recruitment and physician workforce challenges" for the service cuts.
5. Hemet (Calif.) Global Medical Center, a 327-bed facility, plans to close its labor and delivery department this fall. The hospital attributes the decision to low birth numbers and a shortage of physicians. The closure, expected to take effect by the end of October, is anticipated to affect 35 employees.
6. Santa Paula (Calif.) will end births and intensive care services on Oct. 15, pending approval by state officials. In May, leaders from the Ventura County Health Care Agency presented a budget plan to county officials that proposed closing the two units and relocating services to 272-bed Ventura (Calif.) County Medical Center about 15 miles away. They cited financial losses of approximately $16 million in the last fiscal year and noted a significant decline in patient volumes, a drop from 502 deliveries in 2010 to 167 in 2023.
7. Upland, Pa.-based Crozer Health ended surgical services at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, Pa. The 107-bed community hospital offers general and specialty surgical services. In recent months, the hospital has reported an average of three to four surgical cases per day, while also seeing a reduction in general surgeons, according to Crozer CEO Tony Esposito.
8. Sharon (Pa.) Regional Medical Center, part of Dallas-based Steward Health Care, will close a 125-year-old nursing school after the current class of students graduates next May. The closure is "due to complications" from Steward's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the health system said in an Aug. 7 news release.
9. Beaver, Pa.-based Heritage Valley Health System laid off several workers and is closing multiple facilities as part of an organizational downsizing. The workforce and service cuts were made to help the system meet its fiscal year 2025 (year ending June 30) budget as the two-hospital health system continues to evaluate a potential partner, president and CEO Norman Mitry said in a July 31 letter to employees.
10. New York (City)-Presbyterian is seeking approval from the state Department of Health to close the 16-bed rehabilitation unit at New York City-based Columbia University Irving Medical Center and transition it to in-patient beds. The conversion of the unit, located in the hospital's Milstein Hospital Building, is part of an ongoing patient-need and hospital census assessment, a spokesperson for New York-Presbyterian told Becker's on July 25.
11. Aspirus Medford (Wis.) Hospital and Clinics will transition maternal care services to another location starting Oct. 1 amid a shrinking OB-GYN pipeline. While Aspirus Medford will continue to provide prenatal and postnatal care, deliveries will be performed at the Aspirus Wausau (Wis.) Hospital Birthing Center.
12. Providence (R.I.) Community Health Centers closed its Olneyville Health Center on July 31. A spokesperson for the federally qualified health center said the closure of the clinic is temporary and is due to a national shortage of primary care providers. An internal memo from Providence Community Health Centers CEO Merrill Thomas said that an inadequate state Medicare reimbursement rate and "manufacturer attacks on our 340B Drug Pricing Program" placed the FQHC "in an unsustainable negative financial position," which has led to layoffs and the closure of the Olneyville Health Center.
13. Grove Hill (Ala.) Memorial Hospital discontinued its labor and delivery services on Aug. 16. The move came after the hospital's governing board in May decided to transition to rural emergency hospital status.