MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — Cleveland Clinic Martin North is ceasing its maternal labor and delivery services.
The medical center made the announcement Friday in a post on Facebook.
It said the location's labor and delivery services will transition to Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital, "creating a centralized regional hub for mother and baby care."
"We want to acknowledge the impact these changes to women’s health services may have on our valued patients and caregivers," the medical center said in the post. "This decision was not made lightly and reflects a commitment to our community’s evolving healthcare needs while facing challenges experienced by health systems nationwide."
Cleveland Clinic Florida told WPTV the move to eliminate its labor and delivery unit at its Martin County location is due to staffing and lack of demand.
"There have been staffing challenges based on the shortage of OB/GYN physicians both in Florida and nationwide," Communications Specialist Raquel G. Rivas told WPTV via email. "Since 2019, births in Martin County have increased by only 1%, reflecting minimal growth in demand for labor and delivery services in the area."
Rivas added that an average of 657 births occurred at Cleveland Clinic Martin North from 2016 to 2023.
Meanwhile, the number of births have increased in Tradition, the medical center said.
"Since 2019, St. Lucie County has experienced a 20% increase in births, reflecting significant growth in demand for labor and delivery services in the area," Rivas told WPTV.
She added that an average of 1,439 births happened in Tradition from 2016 to 2023 and births at Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital nearly doubled that of Cleveland Clinic Martin North.
As a doula who helps expecting mothers, Sonia Bond is bracing for the consequences of the closure.
“For my clients who are expecting an emergency it’s a literal life or death change," she told WPTV.
She says the hospital is also one of few in the Treasure Coast that provides specialty labor services for high-risk pregnancies.
"They will lose access to those services completely," she said.
Amanda Flesch had the privilege of choosing Martin North to deliver her son. She can’t imagine having that option taken from her.
"The plans go awry and who’s going to be the one responsible when the mother had to travel 25 minutes away, and that can be life or death. It’s just very scary," she said.
As part of labor and delivery services moving to Tradition, Cleveland Clinic Martin North said it is "introducing changes to optimize women’s health services" to meet the needs of the region.
Those changes include enhanced outpatient gynecological services, adding a minimally invasive gynecological surgeon and expanding specialty care in urogynecology and advanced pelvic surgery at Cleveland Clinic Martin North, the center said.
According to the center, employees impacted by these changes will be able to apply for other positions at Cleveland Clinic Martin Health or any open position throughout the region.
The medical center did not specify when these changes will be implemented.
Both Bond and Flesch worry that consolidating the maternal unit will be too much for one hospital to handle.
“Staff is going to be completely over-extended. There is no way. They do not have the space to accommodate the current numbers,” said Bond.
“I mean let’s face it, we had a population boom,” said Flesch. “This is the worst time that they can do that.”
