A year ago, Trump and Republicans in Congress ignited a health care crisis when they passed the largest cuts to health care in American history to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Today, over 1,100 hospitals, clinics and essential service providers are closing, cutting essential services, or facing the risk of closure or cuts. The GOP’s disastrous agenda is sparking community outrage all across the country. This past week, communities in Maine, Maryland, and New York faced the threat of losing their local maternity care unit, with some families potentially forced to travel up to an hour farther for care. An obstetrics nurse from New York explained that when mothers have to travel longer for care, it could be a matter of life or death: “Obstetrical emergencies do not always have enough of a warning [for people] to get an hour away, 40 minutes away…[s]o I’m concerned that we’re going to lose moms’ or babies’ lives[.]”
None of this is a coincidence. Behind every hospital and maternity ward closure is a policy choice, one made by Trump and Republicans to put billionaires ahead of working families’ health care. Protect Our Care will continue to track every hospital, clinic, and essential service provider affected by cuts or closures, and will hold Republicans accountable for their callous decision.
Recent National Coverage
The 19th: As Maternity Wards Close, Community Outrage Rises in Key Battleground States
Scripps: Rural Americans Fight to Keep Local Hospitals Open Amid Closure Fears
Michigan Advance: Earlier Lifeline for Rural Hospitals Faces Test Under ‘Big Beautiful’ Law
Daily Yonder: Questions Remain on Rural Health Transformation Funds Effects on Rural Hospitals
Healthcare Brew: Pediatric Hospitals Grapple With Sicker Kids and Medicaid Losses
Becker’s Hospital Review: 45 Hospitals Closing Departments or Ending Services
BenefitsPRO: Affordable Care Act Subsidy Cuts Hit Hospitals Hard
Arizona
Patch: 99 Jobs Cut As Tucson Hospital Prepares To Close This Month
Copper Courier: A Tucson Hospital Is Closing Its Doors a Year After Trump’s Cuts
Arkansas
KATV: National Park Medical Center Closes Labor and Delivery Program
Arkansas Advocate: Facing Financial Headwinds, Rural Arkansas Hospitals Turn to Partnerships
California
San Jose Mercury News: Medicaid Funding Is Restored to Planned Parenthood, but the Pause Cost California Clinics
Spectrum: ‘We’re a Vital Lifeline’: South LA Providers React to Trump Administration’s Cuts to Medicaid Funding
Shasta Scout: Shasta Public Health to “Scale Back” on Services After $2 Million in New Budget Cuts
Colorado
Colorado Times Recorder: Gabe Evans Promised Medicaid Cuts Wouldn’t Affect ‘People Who Need It Most,’ But They’re Putting Hospitals at Risk
Florida
Mother Jones: Florida’s Nursing Homes Are Bracing for Life Without Haitian TPS Workers
Iowa
KCRG: Women’s Spaces in Iowa City Are Closing or Being Restructured. What Comes Next?
KCRG: 24 Employees Lose Jobs at Closing River Hills Community Health Clinics
Maine
Midcoast Villager: Rural Births at a Crossroads
Spectrum: Maine Parent Coalition Pushes to Keep Birthing Unit Open
WGME: Mainehealth Weighs Closing Damariscotta Birthing Center
Maine Public: Hannah Pingree Calls on MaineHealth Not to Close Lincoln Hospital Birthing Unit
WGME: Protesters Speak Out Against Proposed Closure of Lincoln Hospital Maternity Unit
WCSH: Hannah Pingree Proposes a Pause on Maternity Ward Closures as the Future of Damariscotta’s Birthing Unit Is in Question
Lincoln County News: Decision Incoming for the Future of Labor and Delivery Services in Damariscotta
Portland Press Herald (Paul Richardson): Maine’s Rural Hospitals Cannot Survive Another Susan Collins Term | Opinion
Boothbay Register: MaineHealth/Lincoln Hospital Board Votes to Close Miles Hospital’s Labor & Delivery Unit
Maryland
WBAL: Cecil County Mothers Face Longer Travel After Birth Center Closes
Massachusetts
Patch: Layoffs Rise To 231 At Central MA Behavioral Health Center
Michigan
WDIV: Michigan Rural Hospitals Are Suffering, Here’s What Happened
Minnesota
KAXE: Health Dept. To Host a July 28 Public Hearing on Silver Bay Clinic Closure
Fox21: Aspirus Health Lake View Silver Bay Clinic Set to Close in December
Northern News Now: Medical Clinic Closing Silver Bay, Minn.
Montana
Lewiston News-Argus: Intermountain Health Shuts Doors in Lewistown
New York
North Country Public Radio: North Star Health to Close Birthing Center at Hospital in Ogdensburg
Becker’s Hospital Review: New York Hospital to Close Sleep Center, Primary Care and Physical Therapy Services
NNY 360: North Star Health Alliance to Hold Public Hearings on Proposed Closures, End of Services
Oregon
Portland Oregonian: Hillsboro Medical Center to Close One of Oregon’s Few Geriatric Psychiatric Units
KMVU: ASANTE Closing Outpatient PT Clinics On Aug. 28th
KOBI: Asante Closing Outpatient PT Clinics in Medford and Grants Pass
Pennsylvania
News From The States: Latest Pa. Budget Provides Support for Nursing Homes, but Work Remains
South Carolina
Greenville News (Annie Andrews): Opinion: Expand Healthcare Access, Lower Costs for Healthy Communities
Tennessee
Axios: Nashville Hospital Chains Document Obamacare Subsidy Fallout
Utah
Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Received Millions to Transform Rural Health. Will It Work?
Vermont
VT Digger: Selectboard Explores Tax Hike to Save Brattleboro Memorial Birthing Center
Virginia
Virginia Mercury: ER Visits by Uninsured Patients in Virginia Hospitals Spiked by 8% Last Year
Virginia Mercury: VA. Hospitals Predict $31B Reduction in State’s Medicaid Funding if Proposed CMS Rule Passes
Virginia Mercury (Bob Lewis): Commentary: Rural Virginia Has Been Kind to the GOP, Yet Trump’s GOP Allows Rural Healthcare to Suffer
Washington, D.C.
The 51st: This Hospital Delivers More Babies in D.C. Than Any Other. They’re Cutting Over a Third of Their Postpartum Beds.
WRC: What the Closure of a MedStar WHC Postpartum Unit Could Mean for Patients
WRC: MedStar WHR Postpartum Unit Closes