Two more Philadelphia-area maternity units to close

Two community hospitals in the Philadelphia suburbs—Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville and the former Central Montgomery Medical Center in Lansdale—now say they are closing their maternity units, bringing the number that have closed in Southeastern Pennsylvania since 1997 to 17. According to the Maternity Care Coalition, that leaves 25 hospitals in Philadelphia and the four suburban Pennsylvania counties that have maternity units. Hospitals say that low reimbursement rates from insurance companies, especially for women on Medicaid, and the high cost of malpractice insurance often make running a maternity unit a money-losing proposition.