New arrivals in the ER? Georgia gears up to solve rural maternal health crisis

Georgia is preparing to address a rural maternal health crisis as more hospitals close labor and delivery services. In Lavonia, former obstetric nurse Kara Holden had to plan for alternatives after St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital stopped offering obstetric care nearly a year ago. With the closest labor and delivery unit about 50 miles away in Greenville, South Carolina, she made an hourlong trip on Oct. 11 to deliver her son Tucker. The closures reflect a wider trend tied to low Medicaid reimbursement and falling birth rates. Georgia has labor and delivery units at 36% of rural hospitals, and four have closed since 2020. The state will deploy federal funding from the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, directing more than $12 million in year one toward obstetric “carts” for 43 rural hospitals.