Several healthcare organizations have closed medical departments or ended services at facilities to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or address staffing shortages.
Here are seven closures or services ending, announced, advanced or finalized since Oct. 10, as reported by Becker's:
1. Sunnyside, Wash.-based Astria Health is ending all heart procedures and interventional cardiology services at its clinics and Astria Sunnyside Hospital. Heart procedures and services will stop Dec. 16. The closing is due to staffing challenges and the rising costs of supplies and labor.
2. Renton, Wash.-based Providence closed all 27 of its ExpressCare retail clinics in Southern California on Nov. 17. The healthcare labor shortage, inflation, supply chain disruptions, declining volumes and a highly competitive retail health industry led to "unprecedented operating losses" for the retail clinics, a spokesperson for the 51-hospital system told Becker's.
3. Sandusky, Ohio-based Firelands Regional Medical Center is closing its award-winning open heart surgery program after 23 years at the end of the year. A lack of patients and sinking reimbursements were among the reasons cited for the closure.
4. Elkton, Md.-based ChristianaCare's Radiation Oncology Center at Union Hospital will close by the end of the year. The center is closing to optimize services. Patients will be referred to Helen F. Graham Cancer Center in Newark, Del.
5. Cleveland-based St. Vincent Charity Medical Center ended inpatient and emergency room care Nov. 11, four days before originally planned, to ensure patient safety. The hospital is transitioning into an ambulatory health services provider and rebrand as St. Vincent Charity Community Health Center.
6. Avera Granite Falls (Minn.) Health Center is ending labor and delivery services as it moves to a shared regional model for this care. The hospital, part of Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Avera Health, and Avera Medical Group will continue to provide clinic-based prenatal, postnatal and well-baby care. Labor and delivery services will transfer from Avera Granite Falls to Avera Marshall (Minn.) Regional Medical Center, although Avera Granite Falls will still be available for labor and delivery emergencies.
7. Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 7 paused gender affirmation surgeries on patients younger than 18 while it completes an internal clinical review of recently released guidance related to the treatment of transgender people.