Several 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 18 closures or services ending, announced, advanced or finalized that Becker's has reported on since Feb. 2.
Editor's Note: This webpage was updated March 24 and will continue to be updated.
1. The Miami Transplant Institute abruptly halted its adult heart transplant program until further notice. The institute — which is jointly run by Miami-based Jackson Health System and the University of Miami's UHealth — shut the program voluntarily and temporarily to undergo review by the United Network for Organ Sharing.
2. Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Health and medical services provider Shields Health are closing their urgent care clinic locations in Feeding Hills, Longmeadow and Westfield, Mass., on March 31.
3. Palomar Medical Center Poway (Calif.), part of Escondido, Calif.-based Palomar Health, will close its labor and delivery unit in June, at least temporarily.
4. A combination of a loss of pediatricians, changing demographics and some of the strictest abortion laws in the country is forcing Sandpoint, Idaho-based Bonner General Hospital to stop delivering babies.
5. Cabell Huntington (W.Va.) Hospital, part of Mountain Health Network, will close its CHH Surgery Center, effective April 28, and phase out its home health services over the next 90 days to better align its resources and reduce costs amid financial headwinds.
6. The only hospital in Manitowoc, Wis., a city of nearly 35,000 — Froedtert Holy Family Memorial Hospital — will stop all obstetrics care beginning June 1.
7. Citing a lack of provider coverage, Ocean Springs, Miss.-based Singing River Health System said it will end obstetric services, which include labor and delivery, at Singing River Gulfport (Miss.), at least temporarily. The move is effective April 1.
8. Astria Toppenish (Wash.) Hospital is one of many rural hospitals closing labor and delivery care due to costs, creating maternity deserts in areas that need care most, The New York Times reported.
9. Cleveland-based University Hospitals is ending labor and delivery services at UH Lake West in Willoughby, Ohio, effective April 15. Services will be consolidated at TriPoint in Concord Township, which is about 15 miles away.
10. Jefferson, Mo.-based Capital Region Medical Center will close two clinics in Holts Summit and St. Elizabeth, Mo., effective April 15.
11. Trinity Health Muskegon (Mich.) plans to temporarily close a 30-bed surgical floor due to staffing shortages.
12. St. Mark's Medical Center in La Grange, Texas, is cutting nearly half its staff and various services as it looks to survive amid significant financial challenges. Service cuts include inpatient and surgical services, post-acute skilled rehab care, its orthopedic clinic, speech therapy and ambulatory care.
13. OhioHealth's Shelby Hospital no longer provides maternity services as of 11:59 p.m on Feb. 28. Maternity services are provided 13 miles away at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital.
14. Arcata, Calif.-based Mad River Community Hospital is cutting 27 jobs as it suspends its home health services program. The program will be suspended upon the completion of services to the hospital's existing patients, which is expected to be in April.
15. Oroville (Calif.) Hospital is closing Golden Valley Home Health, the hospital's home health business.
16. Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk, Va., abruptly closed the retail pharmacy it leased to Hague Pharmacy Feb. 8 because its lease expired. The hospital's in-house pharmacy is still open.
17. Ascension Providence Hospital-Southfield (Mich.) ended midwifery services at the end of February.
18. Rumford (Maine) Hospital is closing its maternity program March 31 after 97 years in service.