As labor and delivery cuts and closures become more frequent across the country, two more hospitals — one in New York and one in Alabama — have shared plans to shutter their services.
Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health shared plans May 13 to end inpatient labor and delivery, newborn nursery and postpartum services at its Newark-Wayne Community Hospital in Newark in late summer to early fall, pending New York State Department of Health approval.
The 120-bed hospital pointed to a national and local birth rate decline, including persistent workforce challenges. Newark-Wayne Community Hospital’s labor and delivery will continue to operate amid the process, with OB-GYN services remaining during and after any closure, according to a news release.
“Newark-Wayne Community Hospital will remain open and fully operational, continuing to provide emergency care, surgical services, and other inpatient and outpatient care for the community,” the release said. “RRH has a plan in place to work with each mother and walk them through the change step by step to ensure safe, seamless, supported care as delivery services transition to Rochester Regional Health.”
In Alabama, Mobile-based USA Health shared plans to close the labor and delivery unit at its Providence Hospital, also in Mobile, after the planned closure of Mobile OB-GYN, P.C., a non-USA Health private practice that has operated since 1953 and served as the primary provider of obstetric care at the hospital.
“[Their] closure makes it impossible for us to sustain around-the-clock labor and delivery at Providence at the standard our patients deserve,” a spokesperson for USA Health said in a May 14 statement shared with Becker’s. “Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to close the labor and delivery unit at Providence this summer and transition those functions to USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital.”
USA Health also recently expanded its women’s services division and has the capacity to absorb all Mobile OB-GYN patients, the spokesperson said.
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