Several healthcare organizations recently closed medical units or ended services to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or prevent patient care lapses.
Here are eight of them:
1. Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health will end inpatient care and emergency services at its hospital in Norfolk, Va., by April 1. Health system officials said that Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center's acute and emergency services "no longer serve a vital need in the Norfolk community."
2. Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Health plans to close its outpatient center and satellite emergency care facility in Ware, Mass. In June, Baystate will close the Mary Lane Satellite Emergency Facility, which provides 24-hour emergency care. It also will move cancer services to the D'Amour Center for Cancer Care in Springfield in June. Other services, including rehabilitation, OB-GYN and pediatric care, will relocate to Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer, Mass.
3. Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital in Green Valley, Ariz., has temporarily shut down its ICU wing. The hospital closed the ICU because it was unable to hire a pulmonologist.
4. Hialeah (Fla.) Hospital, owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, will close its maternity ward for good April 5. Tenet said that labor and delivery services will be consolidated into services offered by other nearby facilities, including North Shore Medical Center in Miami and Hialeah-based Palmetto General Hospital.
5. Bradford (Pa.) Regional Medical Center is shifting acute care and surgical services to Olean (N.Y.) General Hospital. The medical center is slated to end the services April 1, but said the date could change. BRMC will retain an emergency room and "develop centers of excellence" in behavioral health, outpatient services and long-term care.
6. Guthrie Towanda (Pa.) Memorial Hospital ended surgical services Jan. 1 and shifted them to Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa., and Guthrie Corning (N.Y.) Hospital. The hospital said the change allows the system to more efficiently use resources to support its overall surgery program.
7. Minneapolis-based M Health Fairview closed the emergency department at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., on Dec. 30. The decision was part of an effort to address a financial shortfall that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic.
8. Dallas-based Steward Health Care closed the maternity ward at Warren, Ohio-based Trumbull Regional Medical Center on Dec. 31. The hospital cited low patient demand as the reason for the closure.