Numerous healthcare organizations recently shut down medical units and services to shore up finances, focus on more in demand services or improve patient care lapses.
Here are 16 hospitals and health systems that have closed units or ceased medical services temporarily or permanently in the past three months reported by Becker's Hospital Review.
1. Sacred Heart Hospital to halt delivery services
Allentown, Pa.-based Sacred Heart Hospital will cease labor and delivery services, which have been available at the hospital for more than 100 years, on Oct. 10.
2. UPMC Bedford Memorial to cease delivery services
Everett, Pa.-based UPMC Bedford Memorial will cease childbirth delivery services Dec. 1.
3. Scripps hospice service to end in September
San Diego-based Scripps Health said in a news release it will transition its hospice service to The Elizabeth Hospice, San Diego County's largest hospice services provider.
4. Holy Cross Hospital to close 34-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit
Chicago-based Holy Cross Hospital is planning to close its 34-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit due to a lack of demand for those services.
5. Boulder Medical Center's Foothills Hospital ceases birthing services
Boulder (Colo.) Medical Center's Foothills Hospital stopped infant delivery services in August.
6. Second DC hospital to consider scaling back obstetric services
Washington, D.C.-based Providence Health System may scale back its obstetric care and mental health services as early as September.
7. Northwestern Medicine hospital to shutter skilled nursing facility
Lake Forest (Ill.) Hospital, owned by Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine, applied to shutter its long-term care unit, Westmoreland Nursing Center in Lake Forest, July 28.
8. Nebraska Medical Center to close inpatient burn unit
Omaha-based Nebraska Medical Center closed its inpatient burn unit Sept. 4 and will consolidate those services with St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln, Neb., part of Omaha-based CHI Health.
9. DC officials order 90-day shutdown of United Medical Center's maternity ward
Washington D.C.-based United Medical Center was ordered to shut down its obstetrics ward for 90 days on Aug. 8 by district regulators.
10. South Dakota hospital to cease inpatient, emergency services
The Indian Health Service will close the emergency and inpatient departments at IHS Sioux San Hospital in Rapid City, S.D., and open a new outpatient health center.
11. Valley Baptist Medical Center to close 37-bed behavioral health facility due to reimbursement changes
Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville (Texas) shuttered its 37-bed behavioral health facility Aug. 20.
12. Bankrupt North Carolina hospital shutters cancer clinic
Morehead Memorial Hospital, a 108-bed nonprofit hospital in Eden, N.C., closed its Novant Health Oncology Specialists clinic June 28 before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 10.
13. St. Joseph's Hospital to close maternity ward Sept. 10
Saint Paul, Minn.-based St. Joseph's Hospital shuttered its maternity ward Sept. 10.
14. CHI to close Chattanooga clinic
CHI Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., part of Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, closed Westside Health Center on Aug. 1.
15. Idaho hospital to cease inpatient services
Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho transitioned the hospital on base from an inpatient facility to an outpatient clinic Aug. 1.
16. DeGraff Memorial Hospital to eliminate 56 beds in surgical unit
North Tonawanda, N.Y.-based DeGraff Memorial Hospital will downsize its surgical unit by 56 beds to focus on its $7.8 million renovation of the emergency department