Lincoln Memorial Hospital to stop delivering births by the end of the year | Main stories

LINCOLN, Ill. (WAND) — Lincoln Memorial Hospital has announced that labor and delivery will end on December 31, 2022.

In the announcement, LMH said the number of babies born at the hospital each year has been declining for the past 25 years. At the same time, the need for other stationary services increased.

“In recent decades, there has been a high demand for births at our hospital,” said LMH President and CEO Dolan Dalpois. “Today, that demand has decreased and our focus has shifted to providing different types of care that better meet the needs of our community.”

LMH is a critical access hospital designated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to select rural hospitals. As a critical access hospital, 25 inpatient beds are permitted and three of these are currently reserved for labor and delivery. Dalpoas said those beds are often empty.

“By reallocating these beds to other areas, we can better meet our growing demand,” he added.

All of the unit’s nursing members have been offered roles elsewhere at LMH or at another Memorial Health hospital. Doctors will work with patients who planned to deliver at LMH after December 31 to choose another hospital.

The decision is still pending approval by the Illinois Health Care Facilities and Services Review Board.

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