Industry · LA
Louisiana Hospital Closes Labor and Delivery Unit Oct. 11
Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary, La., will close its inpatient labor and delivery unit on Oct. 11, citing insufficient delivery volumes to sustain the service, according to an Oct. 7 hospital news release. The closure follows an earlier round of 14 job cuts and the elimination of allergy, asthma and immunology services as the hospital works to shore up its finances. Three Lane Regional physicians will join Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge and begin delivering babies there Oct. 12, and the two organizations are discussing having Woman's take over Lane Regional's outpatient OB-GYN clinic to keep it open on campus. Lane Regional is also pursuing other potential affiliations for its remaining operations.
Why it mattersThe closure narrows obstetric access in the Zachary area, pushing Medicaid-covered births to Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge and raising travel and continuity-of-care concerns for the Medicaid maternal population.