New Orleans-based Ochsner Health will close its labor and delivery department at Ochsner Medical Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., at the end of May, the Sun Herald reported May 17.
The decision was prompted by the low number of births in the area and the departure of an obstetrician, according to the report.
Labor and delivery services are not required in Ochsner's lease agreement with the county, so the county didn't have control over the closure, Hancock County acting administrator Jimmie Ladner told the Herald.
"As the healthcare needs of our communities have changed over time, we must continually evolve our service offerings to better meet those needs today and in the future," Tim Riddell, Ochsner's regional medical director for the Mississippi Gulf Coast, told the Herald.