Dive Brief:

More rural hospitals shut down labor and delivery units this year as the providers faced mounting financial challenges, according to a new report by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.

Twenty-seven hospitals closed their units or plan to shutter them by the end of 2025, compared with 21 last year, according to the CHQPR.

Only 41% of rural hospitals in the U.S. still offer labor and delivery care, according to the report. In 12 states, less than one-third of rural facilities still offer these services.

Dive Insight:

Since the end of 2020, 116 rural hospitals have halted delivering babies or said they would shut down their labor units by the end of this year, according to the report. Closures this year are among the highest seen in the past five years, se

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