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 Jan. 1:
1. Minot, N.D.-based Trinity Health is suspending home health and outpatient hospice services. The system said the decision was made after careful consideration and a thorough review of its current operations. Employees affected by the change will have opportunities to transition into open positions across other departments within the system.
2. Stanford, Ky.-based Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan Hospital will relocate its inpatient labor and delivery services Feb. 16 to Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville, Ky. The hospitals are part of the Danville-based Ephraim McDowell Health system and are a 15-minute drive from each other, the health system said.
3. Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health will shutter its Ellicott City (Md.) Ambulatory Surgery Center due to low procedure volumes. The freestanding ASC’s closure will affect 23 employees and take effect between March 7 and April 6.
4. Franklin, Ind.-based Johnson Memorial Health said it plans to phase out obstetrics services and the maternity care center on its Franklin campus. It will also take added steps to cut costs, which includes employee reductions. JMH cited decreasing federal and state insurance reimbursement rates, and coverage and rising service costs. The process to phase out the maternity care center is expected to take multiple months.
5. Providence Mission Hospital Laguna Beach (Calif.) began a multiyear planning process to phase out acute care and emergency services. The hospital attributed its decision to low inpatient demand and the high cost of renovations needed for the facility, which was built in 1959. On average, 80% of the hospital’s 159 licensed beds are unused each day.
6. Driggs, Idaho-based Teton Valley Health Care will close its infusion clinic amid financial pressures. While a closure date has not been set for the infusion clinic, it will shutter once existing medication supplies have been depleted. The system also laid off 26 employees, or around 10% of its 276-person workforce, on Jan. 22 and 23.
7. Sweetwater (Tenn.) Hospital Association plans to close its labor and delivery department on Feb. 28. The hospital cited ongoing challenges like maintaining specialty provider coverage and financial constraints including declining patient volumes, reimbursement rates and rising operational costs.
8. Des Moines, Iowa-based MercyOne plans to close its MercyOne Ottumwa (Iowa) Family and Internal Medicine location on Feb. 27. MercyOne Ottumwa comprises seven family medicine providers. The health system’s human resources team is working with impacted employees on next steps, including applying for open positions.
9. Grand Island, Neb.-based CHI Health St. Francis will close its skilled nursing facility March 10. Steve Schieber, president of CHI Health St. Francis, said the decision “reflects broader changes in how skilled nursing care is delivered and the increasing shift away from hospital-based skilled nursing services across the country.”
10. Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in Fort Madison, operated by West Burlington, Iowa-based Great River Health, will end inpatient labor and delivery services by the end of 2026. The move is part of the system’s transition to a hub-and-spoke maternal care model, which Great River Health is already using at Henry County Health Center in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. The approach consolidates labor and delivery care at a central site, with pre- and postnatal services offered locally in outpatient settings.
11. Ouachita County Medical Center in Camden, Ark., closed its labor and delivery unit on Jan. 9. CEO Glenda Harper said they “do so few deliveries, and with the cut in reimbursement, it’s just not feasible” to keep the unit open.
12. Lewiston-based Central Maine Healthcare will close its Gray (Maine) Family Health Center on March 6. The system acknowledged that the closure might be “unexpected” and assured patients that it is dedicated to supporting them through the transition. The practice comprises three family medicine providers.
13. Warren (Pa.) General Hospital discontinued inpatient labor and delivery services, citing a national OB-GYN shortage and a sudden change in physician availability.
