Headlines Show How GOP Cuts Are Fueling Layoffs and Cuts, While Maternity Wards Continue to Shutter Nationwide
As GOP health care cuts continue to sink in, hospitals and health care facilities across the county are being pushed to the financial brink. This all comes after Trump and Republicans slashed over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) last year to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. Now, more than 1,250 hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and other providers have closed their doors, cut essential services or are at risk of shutting down altogether.
Maternity wards are already disappearing from communities across the country, leaving expecting mothers with fewer places to safely give birth. In Illinois alone, three hospitals shuttered labor and delivery services on the same day, and now a fourth has announced it will close its maternity ward by the end of the month. In Nevada, Henderson Hospital shuttered its labor and delivery unit and NICU, leaving expecting mothers to seek care at hospitals farther from home and adding precious minutes to a journey where every minute can matter. As one patient put it, “If I’m in labor, it’s 12 minutes to the hospital. You tell me I can’t be there. Now, I got to go somewhere else, anywhere from 15 to 35, 40 minutes to somewhere else. It’s life and death.”
National Coverage
American Community Media: Hundreds of Rural Hospitals at Risk Amid Healthcare Affordability Crisis
Becker’s ASC Review: 7 Physician Practice Closures in September
The Daily Yonder: Congress Members Move to Offset Coming Cuts to Rural Hospital Funding
Becker’s ASC Review: 13 Hospital, Health System Layoffs in September
Becker’s Hospital Review: Hospital Leaders Predict More ‘Quiet Closures’ in 2027
California
Santa Cruz Local: Watsonville Hospital Leaders Say They Must Shutter Their Maternity Ward or Face Imminent Closure
Santa Cruz Sentinel: Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board Hears Anticipated Federal, State Cuts Impact Report
KRON: Kaiser Layoffs to Impact Nearly 150 Workers Across California
Colorado
KUSA: Colorado Hospitals Brace for Hundreds of Millions in Losses as Medicaid Changes Begin
Denver Business Journal: More Than 100 Intermountain Health Employees Face Layoffs as Broomfield Healthcare Unit Closes
Becker’s Hospital Review: Intermountain Exits Colorado Care Network Joint Venture With Uchealth
Georgia
WYFF: ‘County Didn’t See the Value’: Elbert Memorial Hospital Avoids November Closure Without County Funding
WALB: Ocilla Mayor Delays Hospital Utility Shutoff Decision Until Monday Meeting
Illinois
Chicago Tribune: Lawmakers and Deputy Governor Discuss West Suburban Hospital’s Future in Meeting That’s Short on Details
Becker’s Hospital Review: Chicago Hospital to Suspend Labor and Delivery
Chicago Tribune: Roseland Hospital Closing Labor and Delivery Unit, Leaving Patients With Fewer Options on the South Side
Aurora Beacon-News (Denise Crosby): Column: Final Labor and Delivery Shift at Mercy Medical Center in Aurora Full of Bittersweet Emotions
WGN: Roseland Community Hospital Set to Close Its Labor and Delivery Unit
WLS: Roseland Community Hospital to Close Labor and Delivery Unit, Raising Concerns About Maternal Care
WMAQ: ‘Obstetric Deserts’: Roseland Hospital’s Labor and Delivery Closure Leaves Gap in Chicago
CBS Chicago: Prime Healthcare Nurses Protest Cuts to Ob Services at 3 Chicago Area Hospitals
Shaw Local: As Saint Joseph Joliet Closes Its Maternity Unit, Other Local Hospitals Say They Are Committed to Ob Care
Shaw Local: Nurses Protest the Closure of Maternity Services at Joliet’s Saint Joseph Medical Center
CBS: Prime Healthcare Ending Obstetrics Services at 3 Chicago-Area Hospitals on Thursday
WMAQ: Another Chicago-Area Hospital to Close Pregnancy, Labor and Delivery Unit
The Daily Northwestern: Albany Care Faces Potential Shutdown by Early 2027
WMAQ: Joliet’s St. Joseph Hospital to Shutter Maternal Care Unit
Kansas
Topeka Capital Journal: KU Health System to Fully Take Over St. Francis Campus in Topeka
Maine
WABI: Belfast Dental Clinic Closed Temporarily, Will Open Limited Hours
Bangor Daily News: Nonprofit Dental Clinic in Belfast Closes Temporarily Amid Pchc’s Financial Crisis
Portland Press-Herald (Victoria Hugo-Vidal): Opinion: Maine’s Rural Maternity Wards Require a Mindset Shift
Michigan
Sturgis Sentinel: City Seeks Prospects to Revive Health Care Services in Sturgis
Minnesota
Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota Health Systems Healthpartners, Essentia Health Announce Plan to Merge
Minnesota Star Tribune: Closure Pending for Troubled Crystal Nursing Home
Montana
The Missoulian: St. Peter’s Health Townsend Clinic Closes, Partners With Billings Clinic Broadwater
Becker’s ASC Review: Montana Health System Closes Clinic, Consolidates Operations
Nevada
KVVU: Advocates, State Workers Criticize Temporary Closure of Nevada Youth Psychiatric Hospital
KLAS: Henderson Hospital Ends NICU, Maternity Services
Nevada Globe: Henderson Hospital Closes Maternity and NICU Wings, Transitioning Beds to Emergency and Adult Surgical Care
New Jersey
The Jersey Vindicator: Jersey City Hospital Closure Spurs Bill to Appoint a Receiver When a Hospital Closes Without State Approval
New York
Spectrum: Sullivan County Legislature Holds Public Vote to Close Sunset Lake Adult Care Center
Sullivan County Democrat: Legislature Votes to Close Care Center in 5-4 Vote
Radio Catskill: Sullivan Legislature Votes to Close Adult Care Center Despite Court Challenge
WROC: Waterview Heights Closure Delayed by Nursing Home Crisis
WHEC: Waterview Heights Set to Close Tuesday: 13 Residents Still Don’t Have a Place to Live
WWNY: Claxton-Hepburn Labor and Delivery Services Could Close in November
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle: Waterview Heights Remains Open as Residents Await Placement
River Reporter: Sullivan County Accused of Rushing Residents Out of Care Center
WHEC: Investigates: Waterview Residents in Limbo Because Medicaid Does Not Cover Full Cost of Care, Says Legislator
Oklahoma
Hoodline: OU Health to Open NW Oklahoma City Clinic as Integris Pediatric Endocrinology Closes Oct. 16
KOCO: Faith Clinic in Yukon Seeks Healthcare Volunteers to Meet Rising Patient Demand
Oregon
Rogue Valley Times: Nurses’ Union-Led Town Hall in Medford Focuses on Challenges With Asante
Pennsylvania
Erie Times-News: Are Parts of Erie, Warren Counties in a ‘Maternity Care Desert’?
WHP: Why 38 Labor and Delivery Units Have Closed in Pa Since 2005
Warren Times Observer: Senator Wants to Bring Rural Emergency Hospital Status to Pa
WHYY: A Rural Pennsylvania Community’s Fight to Save Their Only Hospital, Healthcare Services in a ‘Forgotten Land’
Texas
KCBD: Lubbock Ob-Gyn Says She Was ‘Bullied’ Out of Position, as Patients Struggle to Find Care
Washington
Becker’s ASC Review: Optum to Close Washington Practice
Anacortes American: Optum to Close Anacortes Clinic Dec. 4, Consolidate Services at la Conner Clinic
Cascadia Daily News: Optum Closing Anacortes Clinic in December
West Virginia
WCHS: $500M Rural Health Funding Moves Forward in w.va., but Hospital Closures Still Feared
Wisconsin
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service: Bread of Healing Clinic Prepares for More Uninsured Milwaukeeans