University of Louisville (Ky.) Health is indefinitely pausing plans for a new birthing center amid expected Medicaid cuts, Fox affiliate WDRB reported Aug. 6.
The health system said in a statement that although the Medicaid cuts under the recently signed One Big Beautiful Bill Act don’t take effect until 2028, it “must start planning for that future now,” according to the report.
The $20 million UofL project at Louisville-based UofL Health – Mary & Elizabeth Hospital would have transformed 21,000 square feet of office space into a birth center, according to the report. The project planned for eight labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum suites. A speciality suite for C-sections was also planned.
UofL Health said that 44% of Kentucky’s births are financed by Medicaid and that funding was “instrumental in developing its plans” for the project, according to the report.
“The expected loss of Medicaid funding jeopardizes the viability of bringing labor and delivery services to South Louisville,” UofL Health said in its statement to the news outlet.
The system said it plans on “opening a Women’s Health Center in the expanded space and [is] confident the expanded women services at Mary & Elizabeth Hospital will fill an important gap in a medically underserved area.”
