Here are the four hospitals ending services:
1. UnityPoint Health Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa, is ending inpatient care for pediatric patients, the hospital told Becker’s Jan. 17. The hospital said it will continue to care for pediatric patients with emergent needs in its emergency department and will work with other hospitals in the region to ensure patients requiring inpatient care can be safely transferred.
2. MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa, indefinitely paused its open-heart surgery program. In a Jan. 13 statement to Becker’s, a spokesperson for the Des Moines, Iowa-based health system attributed the decision to changing demographics, difficulty recruiting physicians to the region and financial pressures.
3. Laurium, Mich.-based Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital, part of Wausau, Wis.-based Aspirus Health, ended its labor and delivery services on Dec. 31. The decision comes as part of a labor and delivery services review at the hospital, which revealed challenges with recruitment and retention for specialized providers and employees for 24/7 coverage.
4. Westfield (N.Y.) Memorial Hospital plans to end inpatient care and focus on providing outpatient and emergency care if CMS and the New York State Department of Health approve its application to transition to a rural emergency hospital. Under the REH designation, Westfield Memorial, part of Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network, would close its four inpatient beds but continue providing emergency services, observation care and — if elected by the hospital — additional outpatient services that do not exceed an annual per-patient average of 24 hours.
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