Albany, N.Y.-based St. Peter's Health Partners has submitted a plan to the state Department of Health to shut down the maternity unit at Samaritan Hospital. If approved, the Troy, N.Y., hospital will close the unit in about four to six months.
"The COVID pandemic has had a significant impact on healthcare, including financial and staffing effects that continue to be felt today," a spokesperson for St. Peter's said in a statement shared with Becker's. "However, even before COVID, maternity services at Samaritan Hospital were operating at a substantial loss."
The health system said it can no longer preserve maternity services at Samaritan Hospital. It has made a provisional plan to consolidate ambulatory locations and closing maternity services at the hospital.
Patients will continue to have access to nearby maternity and neonatal services, including St. Peter's Hospital, Bellevue Women's Center in Niskayuna, Albany Medical Center, Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass., and Saratoga Hospital in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
St. Peter's talent acquisition team will work with employees affected by the closure to identify other opportunities within the health system.
"While this is a difficult decision, the reality is our hospitals are struggling to remain sustainable and viable. This is a necessary step to ensure and preserve health care in the Troy community well into the future," according to the health system.