UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks hospital in Glendale Heights, Ill., plans to discontinue its obstetrics services because of low demand and community factors including the higher median age in Glendale Heights.
Hospital leaders outlined plans to discontinue its 15-bed obstetric facility and remove a Level 1 nursery from the hospital, pending approval from the Illinois Health Facilities & Services Review Board.
The hospital will continue to provide outpatient obstetrics-related services and inpatient gynecologic services, including ultrasounds, pap smears and gynecology surgery, according to a filing with the board.
Comprehensive obstetrics services are available at other UChicago Medicine AdventHealth hospitals in the region, including its hospitals in Bolingbrook and Hinsdale, Ill..
"The decision to discontinue obstetrics service was not made lightly and was based on low utilization of this service at our hospital, where declining volumes have led to less than one birth per day," a spokesperson for the hospital told Becker's.
The closure will not result in any layoffs, according to UChicago Medicine AdventHealth. Employees in the department will be transitioned to other units at the hospital, or to obstetrics departments at the Bolingbrook or Hinsdale hospitals.
Becker's has reported on 23 other hospitals that are cutting maternity untis this year.