IOWA FALLS, Iowa (AP) — A hospital in north-central Iowa says it’s going to stop delivering babies.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Hansen Family Hospital in Iowa Falls announced last week that the doctor who performs most of the deliveries is leaving the hospital, so the deliveries will stop Nov. 23.
The hospital says prenatal care will be provided by Iowa Falls providers, but late pregnancy appointments and deliveries will occur at partnership hospitals in neighboring communities, such as Mason City.
Hospital CEO Doug Morse says it’s difficult to find doctors willing to deliver babies in a rural setting with its attendance malpractice risk and call burdens. He says his hospital is one of eight rural Iowa hospitals stopping deliveries this year.