Beginning in mid-January, maternity services will no longer be available at Pulaski Memorial Hospital in Winamac, Ind., local news station WKVI reported Dec. 22.
The hospital has had "significant difficulty recruiting additional staff to our OB/maternity department in order to maintain the high-quality standards that all patients deserve and expect from PMH," Tom Barry, the hospital's CEO, said in a press release shared with the news station, adding that the healthcare labor shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the availability of maternity nurses.
Pulaski Memorial Hospital is working with Woodlawn Hospital in Rochester, Ind., and Logansport (Ind.) Memorial Hospital to make alternate plans for patients with upcoming deliveries who were expecting to receive care at PMH.
The hospital will still care for emergency deliveries and stabilize patients before transferring them to other facilities, WKVI reports. The hospital's board of trustees voted to close the obstetrics department during a Dec. 14 emergency meeting.