12 hospitals closing departments or ending services

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 12 department closures or services that are ending or have been announced, advanced or finalized that Becker's reported since June 1: 

1. Upland, Pa.-based Crozer Health will end surgical services at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, Pa., by Sept. 1. 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.

2. 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. 

3. 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.

4. 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. 

5. 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. 

6. 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. 

7. Grove Hill (Ala.) Memorial Hospital discontinued its labor and delivery services on Aug. 16.

8. Robbinsdale, Minn.-based North Memorial Health closed the specialty nursery unit at its hospital in the city. The closure comes after years of declining births at the hospital. Additionally, North Memorial has seen more parents choose its newer, nearby hospital in Maple Grove, Minn. That hospital reported 4,591 births in 2022 and is the state's largest birthing center.

9. Tacoma, Wash.-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health closed its outpatient rehabilitation and physical therapy clinic in Port Orchard, Wash. on July 12. The clinic is no longer financially viable with current insurance reimbursement rates, Chad Melton, president of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health's St. Michael Medical Center, said. 

10. Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital in Palos Heights, Ill., plans to permanently discontinue pediatric services, citing a low daily census and related hiring challenges, according to an application the hospital filed with the Illinois Health Facilities & Services Review Board. Pending approval, the hospital would convert its eight licensed pediatric beds to medical surgical beds. In November 2022, inpatient pediatric services at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital were suspended. The hospital said its annual average daily census for pediatrics has been less than one patient per day since 2015.

11. Alameda (Calif.) Hospital ended elective surgeries on July 1 and relocated them to the Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus in Oakland, Calif., and San Leandro (Calif.) Hospital. Alameda Health System said it is relocated the surgeries "because a cross-functional work group that included physician and nursing leaders, post-acute staff and operational staff determined it is in the best interest of our patients — and to offset the costs associated with the seismic upgrade required to keep Alameda Hospital operational."

12. University of Missouri Health Care Women's Hospital in Columbia, Mo., permanently closed its emergency room on June 10. MU Health Care's University Hospital in Columbia will provide a centralized ER with a separate ER for children following the closure.

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