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

In Lavonia, Georgia, the closure of St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital’s labor and delivery unit is forcing some rural patients to plan for emergency births far from home. Kara Holden, preparing for her fourth child, traveled Oct. 11 about an hour to Greenville Memorial Hospital in South Carolina after her preferred local unit shut nearly a year ago. Georgia has fewer than half of rural hospitals offering labor and delivery services; only 36% have such units, and four closed since 2020, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. Using federal funds from the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, Georgia plans to equip 43 hospitals with obstetric carts stocked for childbirth and emergencies. Critics warn the carts may shift care to ER staff with limited obstetric experience.