From 2012 to 2019, at least 19 California hospitals stopped offering labor and delivery services. Six of those hospitals closed completely.

In an accelerating trend, sixteen more closed their maternity wards from 2020 to 2022.

So far in 2023, eleven more have announced maternity ward closures, including one hospital that completely closed.

After El Centro Regional Medical Center closed its maternity ward in January, Imperial County has only one hospital left doing births.

Health

Vast stretches of California lose maternity care as dozens of hospitals shut labor wards

By Kristen Hwang, Ana B. Ibarra and Erica Yee

Published November 15, 2023

On Jan. 5, El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County delivered its last baby. The shuttering of the 67-year-old obstetrics department meant only one other hospital would be left to deliver the approximately 2,500 babies born every year in this sprawling county.

In June it was Beverly Hospital in Montebello. In July it was Doctors Hospital in Manteca. Last month, Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside and Centinela Hospital in Inglewood joined the list of hospitals cutting off this service line.

California is not immune to a troubling national trend: A growing number of hospitals, both in rural and urban areas, are closing maternity units, leaving women and families with fewer options for labor and delivery services. This means longer travel times and additional barriers to care.

At least 39 California hospitals have shut down maternity wards in the past 10 years, according to a CalMatters analysis of hospital financial records. The closures have rapidly increased in the past three years with 24 closures since 2020.