More hospitals are shuttering surgical services amid financial challenges amid soaring costs and declining reimbursements.
Here are five hospitals that have announced plans to shutter surgical services since June 1:
1. Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont, Minn., will permanently close its surgical and labor and delivery units March 31. Surgeries, procedures, inpatient obstetric care and inpatient pediatric admissions will end March 31, though deliveries in Fairmont have been on an extended diversion since August.
2. Upland, Pa.-based Crozer Health ended surgical services at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, Pa., Sept. 1. The 107-bed community hospital offers general and specialty surgical services. The hospital has reported an average of three to four surgical cases per day, while also seeing a reduction in general surgeons.
3. Alameda (Calif.) Hospital ended elective surgeries July 1 and relocated them to the Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus in Oakland, Calif., and San Leandro (Calif.) Hospital. Alameda Health System said it relocated the surgeries "because a cross-functional work group that included physician and nursing leaders, post-acute staff and operational staff determined it is in the best interest of our patients — and to offset the costs associated with the seismic upgrade required to keep Alameda Hospital operational."
4. MercyOne's specialty clinic in Des Moines ended gynecologic oncology surgical services June 1. A spokesperson told Becker's the primary reason for the closure was the inability to recruit a specialty physician.
5. Atmore (Ala.) Community Hospital closed its surgery department June 1 due to low patient volumes, inflating costs and low reimbursement rates. While the hospital made efforts to sustain the service, it does not have the volume to currently support it, Brad Lowery, administrator for the hospital, said in a news release on the hospital's website.