A number of healthcare organizations have recently closed medical departments or ended services at facilities to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or address staffing shortages.
Here are five department closures or services that are ending or have been announced, advanced or finalized that Becker's reported since Dec. 31:
1. UnityPoint Health Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa, is ending inpatient care for pediatric patients, the hospital confirmed to Becker's Jan. 17. The hospital said it will continue to care for pediatric patients with emergent needs in its emergency department and will work with other hospitals in the region to ensure patients requiring inpatient care can be safely transferred.
2. MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa, indefinitely paused its open-heart surgery program on Jan. 13. A spokesperson attributed the decision to changing demographics, difficulty recruiting physicians to the region and financial pressures.
3. Laurium, Mich.-based Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital, part of Wausau, Wis.-based Aspirus Health, ended its labor and delivery services on Dec. 31. The decision came as part of a labor and delivery services review at the hospital, which revealed challenges with recruitment and retention for specialized providers and employees for 24/7 coverage.
4. Westfield (N.Y.) Memorial Hospital plans to end inpatient care and focus on providing outpatient and emergency care if CMS and the New York State Department of Health approve its application to transition to a rural emergency hospital. Under the REH designation, Westfield Memorial, part of Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network, would close its four inpatient beds but continue providing emergency services, observation care and -- if elected by the hospital -- additional outpatient services that do not exceed an annual per-patient average of 24 hours.
5. Winner (S.D.) Regional Health will end labor and delivery services, effective Feb. 1. The service closure comes amid physician recruitment challenges and reimbursement difficulties.