Doctors at Hutcheson Medical Center will stop delivering babies Tuesday.
The hospital's board of directors voted Wednesday to end the service because it cost too much money. The hospital's leaders had previously suspended services in 2013, but they voted to re-open the Women's Center and Labor and Delivery Services last December, hoping they could bring more patients to the hospital.
Not enough people came to Hutcheson to give birth to their children this year.
"We value the profound role we have played for decades in ushering new life into our local community," Chief Nursing Officer Sandra Siniard said in a news release. "This is a necessary step that will provide cost saving measures."
Labor and delivery rooms have received numerous upgrades including hardwood floors and better Internet service at the newly-renovated women's center at Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe.The hospital's leaders filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy in November, when the hospital faced $80 million in liabilities. Since then, the hospital has added an extra $5 million of debt.
Hutcheson's leaders will go before a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge next week, when the U.S. trustee charged with overseeing the hospital will argue that Hutcheson should no longer have bankruptcy protection. He said in a court motion that the hospital's leaders have only continued to lose money and have failed to create a plan to reorganize and become a hospital that will stay afloat financially.
Losing bankruptcy protection could be the end for Hutcheson. Without this protection, Erlanger Medical Center could try to foreclose on the hospital. Hutcheson owes Erlanger about $20 million.
According to a news release, ER doctors at Hutcheson will continue to treat pregnant women who need to be stabilized. Then, paramedics will drive the women to another hospital.
Hutcheson's board also voted this week to "suspend" services at LaFayette Physicians Family Care. The center will also close Tuesday. A Hutcheson press release said this was part of a new strategy to make more money.
"Suspending these services is a difficult decision," CEO Farrell Hayes said in the release. "The decision was made with great care and concern for the communities we serve. However, this is a necessary step forward to serve the greater population with the core services Hutcheson Medical Center provides at its main campus."