As hospitals across the U.S. face workforce shortages, several have had to halt services.
At least six hospitals announced plans in recent months to scale back care due to staffing shortages.
- Cleveland-based University Hospitals ended inpatient, surgical and emergency services at UH Bedford (Ohio) Medical Center and UH Richmond Medical Center in Richmond Heights, Ohio, on Aug. 12. The health system attributed the changes to a staffing shortage.
- Williamston, N.C.-based Martin General Hospital closed its intensive care unit on Aug. 1. The hospital said nursing staff shortages are the primary reason for the closure.
- McLaren St. Luke's Hospital in Maumee, Ohio, is ending labor and delivery services. The hospital will end labor and delivery services between Aug. 31 and Sept. 30. The hospital attributed the change to compounding challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a national staffing shortage and exclusion from the Paramount insurance network.
- Gallup, N.M.-based Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital closed its labor and delivery unit on Aug. 3. Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services CEO Robert Whitaker attributed the closure to a shortage of nurses and physicians.
- South Lincoln Medical Center in Kemmerer, Wyo., stopped providing labor and delivery services June 1, and the critical access hospital's operating room is no longer open around the clock for emergency surgeries. In March, hospital leaders said the facility was scaling back services because it was unable to recruit the number of surgical nurses needed to maintain a full surgical team all the time.
- Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins, Wyo., ended labor and delivery services June 15 amid staffing shortages. The hospital was spending $100,000 a week on travel nurses after losing five nurses in the labor and delivery department. Eliminating labor and delivery services will help the hospital alleviate financial pressure, a spokesperson told Wyoming Public Radio.