Nearly half of Minnesota's rural hospitals don't offer labor and delivery
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
An estimated 45% of rural hospitals in Minnesota no longer offer maternity care, per a new report.
The big picture: Challenging economics and labor shortages are forcing more rural facilities to stop providing labor and delivery services, Axios' Jason Millman writes.
- The report, from the nonprofit Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, found that 55% of the nation's rural hospitals don't offer the services.
Why it matters: Closures force patients to travel longer for labor and delivery care. In rural Minnesota, the typical driving time is about 30 minutes.
Between the lines: Pregnant patients who can't make it to the unit can end up delivering in emergency rooms.
- Research suggests that can carry risks of its own, University of Minnesota public health researcher Katy Backes Kozhimannil told KSTP.
By the numbers: At least 22 hospitals in Minnesota stopped scheduling deliveries between 2011 and 2021, the Star Tribune reports, citing Chartis Center for Rural Health data.
The latest: Essentia Health announced in January that the labor and delivery unit at its hospital in the northern Minnesota town of Fosston will remain closed, though pre- and post-delivery care will continue.
- Since 2022, it had been diverting deliveries to a hospital in Detroit Lakes, an hour's drive away.
Plus: Mayo Clinic's hospital in New Prague plans to stop providing the services on Feb. 9, per the Star Tribune.
What they're saying: An Essentia company spokesperson told the Star Tribune that it has faced recruiting challenges. They also noted that while rural births are declining, pregnancies are more likely to involve risks or complications.
- Mayo told the paper that it has just one obstetrician left in New Prague, where deliveries have dropped below 100 a year.
What we're watching: Fosston is trying to stop the hospital from closing the unit, InForum reports. That effort could include returning operation of the hospital to a local nonprofit.
- "I think it's real simple to say that the delivery of babies and the timeliness of that is so important. The distance becomes critical," Mayor Jim Offerdahl said.
Zoom out: While greater Minnesota has seen a number of closures in recent years, the share of rural hospitals providing labor and delivery care is higher than in Iowa and the Dakotas.
The latest: The Minnesota Department of Health on Tuesday night held a public hearing on the Essentia closure.
- A hearing on the New Prague closure is scheduled for Feb. 6.