By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“People who have pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes or hypertension, they’ll also be most affected by the closure of a local hospital that has a labor and delivery unit because those types of health complications can escalate really quickly. Having to drive an extra 20 minutes or an extra hour to reach the next closest hospital with an obstetric care unit can really make a huge difference in whether moms and babies get the care they need at a really critical time in their lives.” - Celia Karp, assistant professor with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, on the challenges posed by “maternity care deserts.”
Welcome back to the workweek, for those of you who enjoyed Labor Day yesterday. We have a full plate for you today.
The closure this summer of the birthing center at the hospital in Elkton, the only such center in Cecil County, has left patients scrambling to find care elsewhere, and has left county officials scrambling to find someone to fill the void. Danielle J. Brown has that story.
A lack of maternity care is not unique to Cecil County: A new report shows that the number of “maternity care deserts” is rising in rural areas across the country, and the problem is only likely to get worse, as Shalina Chatlani reports.
We also have the latest on Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando’s recovery from a heart attack over the weekend, a look at fears among area Salvadorans as immigration protections are scheduled to end Wednesday, and more headlines from the week. It’s all below. Enjoy!
ChristianaCare Union Hospital in Elkton. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters)
By Danielle J. Brown
Cecil County leaders and community members are scrambling to piece together solutions to the loss this summer of the county's only birthing center, after the closure of the unit at ChristianaCare Union Hospital in Elkton.
Talks have included everything from recruiting new hospital systems to build a new maternity unit, to relying on local emergency medical services to transport pregnant patients to other hospitals. Until a solution is found, problem pregnancies could be affected by the increased time it takes to get to another available hospital for care, Cecil County Executive Adam Streight said. “Depending on where you’re at in the county, on a good day it’s a 45-minute trip,” Streight said. “Most places in the county, you’re talking an hour or more.”
The most recent March of Dimes report on maternity care deserts showed that the Eastern Shore had “moderate” access to maternal healthcare in 2024, when the Elkton labor and delivery unit was still open, whereas the rest of the state had “full” access. The data does not reflect how the closure of the Cecil County facility will affect other counties.
A baby on the carpet at the Alabama Birth Center in Huntsville. In 14 states, the closure of a rural hospital or its obstetric unit would force Medicaid patients to drive an hour or more for inpatient maternity care, a new study says. (Photo by Eric Schultz for the Alabama Reflector)
By Shalina Chatlani
In 14 states, the closure of the closest rural hospital or its obstetric unit would force many Medicaid patients to drive an hour or more to get to another hospital that provides inpatient maternity care, according to an analysis released last month.
Nationwide, the median drive time between hospitals providing inpatient maternity care to Medicaid enrollees and the closest in-state alternative is 43 minutes for rural hospitals compared with 13 minutes for urban hospitals, the analysis found. The study by KFF, a healthcare research organization, suggests that the closure of rural obstetrics units will accelerate as a result of the healthcare changes included in the broad tax and spending measure President Donald Trump signed last summer. That law will reduce some payments to hospitals and cut Medicaid enrollment by introducing work requirements.
Already, rural obstetric services are diminishing at a rapid rate: From 2010 to 2022, 238 rural hospitals closed their obstetrics units while only 26 hospitals opened new units. In 2023, almost half of rural counties did not have a hospital offering obstetrics services.
IN OTHER NEWS
Jawando recovering from heart attack: Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando, the Democratic nominee for county executive, is recovering from a heart attack that he suffered during a basketball game over the weekend, his office reported Monday.
Salvadorans face loss of TPS Wednesday: Tens of thousands of people from El Salvador, including many in Maryland, could face deportation if the administration does not extend their Temporary Protected Status, currently scheduled to end Wednesday.
New rules for discipline reviews: Agencies may get more flexibility in disciplining federal employees, but worker advocates fear a loss of protections, as the Merit Systems Protection Board moves to end the use of "Douglas factors" to review misconduct cases.
Political notes: Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-4th) co-chairs the the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conference at a challenging time, Simon Haley is honored at UMES and Kendra Young Ausby is elevated to an Appellate Court judgeship, in political notes.
TODAY'S COMMENTARY
Naturalization is supposed to be the end of a yearslong journey to becoming an American citizen, writes Richard T. Herman, but in the current climate of immigration enforcement, many foreign-born citizens are wondering how much of a shield it can be.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
A Civil War mystery: Maryland Museum of Military History officials hope history buffs or genealogy whizzes can help identify the 45 Union soldiers from the Eastern Shore, in a rare collection of individual tintypes, each in its own intricate metal frame.
Labor Day data: Labor union membership continues to climb in the U.S., adding 411,000 members last year -- the most since 2008 -- although the increase remains sharply divided by the union-friendly or union-antagonistic politics of individual states.
Birthing an island: Nearly two decades after it was conceived as a beneficial reuse site for dredged material from Chesapeake Bay shipping channels, a renewed James Island, until recently just a spit of land, is rising from the bay near the Little Choptank River.
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