From burn centers to labor and delivery units, hospitals and health systems across the country are pulling back on services, and in some cases, inpatient care entirely.
At least six facilities have announced closures or conversions in the last months, a wave of cuts that reflects the mounting financial and operational pressures:
1. Bakersfield (Calif.) Memorial Hospital will close the Grossman Burn Center June 30 due to “evolving community needs,” according to an April 1 public notice.
2. Boulder City (Nev.) Hospital converted from a critical access hospital to a rural emergency hospital May 1, ending inpatient admissions — including stays longer than 24 hours — while continuing to provide emergency and outpatient care.
3. 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.
4. Mobile, Ala.-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.
5. Aspirus St. Luke’s in Duluth, Minn., will close its home health services division as the health system shifts resources to other areas of care.
6. Ogdensburg, N.Y.-based North Star Health Alliance will close its Watertown, N.Y.-based North Star Pediatrics practice June 30 amid ongoing restructuring and operational stabilization efforts after it sought bankruptcy protection in early February.
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