Roseland Community Hospital stops delivering babies this weekend. What it means for Far South Side families

Roseland Community Hospital, a safety-net hospital at 111th Street on the Far South Side, stops delivering babies this weekend. The hospital's labor and delivery unit closes Saturday night, CBS Chicago reported Friday.

Why it matters: families in Roseland, Pullman and nearby neighborhoods will have to travel farther to give birth. The nearest alternative, Advocate Trinity Hospital, is about 4 miles away and also plans to close its obstetrics unit next year, according to CBS. Pregnant patients who come to Roseland's emergency room with complications will be sent to other hospitals.

Why it's closing

Hospital officials cited falling birth rates and finances, CBS reported. The hospital's chief executive said fewer than 50 babies were on track to be born there by the end of the year.

In September, NBC 5 reported that administrators described the decision in a report to state hospital regulators as part of a "Strategic Transformation" plan. One administrator told NBC 5 the hospital couldn't "put the whole entire hospital at risk just for one department." Months earlier, the hospital received a $16 million state grant to help cover payroll, NBC 5 said. The station reported that an obstetrics clinic will keep operating and that administrators asked the state to help expand high-risk maternity care at another facility.

Dr. Joy West, who chairs the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department, told CBS the closure will create "another maternal healthcare desert" in Chicago.

A wider trend

Roseland is not alone. Prime Healthcare ended maternity care at Resurrection Medical Center on the Northwest Side on Oct. 1, and at hospitals in Joliet and Aurora, according to CBS and NBC 5. CBS cited March of Dimes data showing the South and Midwest have the largest share of maternity care deserts in the country.

What our records add

City Hall doesn't decide this. Hospitals are private or nonprofit, and they report changes like this to state regulators, not the City Council. The Council has no vote on Roseland's labor and delivery unit. Roseland is in the 9th Ward, represented by Ald. Anthony Beale.

The last time the Council took up Roseland's finances was a 2015 resolution urging the governor to release funding to keep the hospital open. The City Clerk's records list it as failed to pass. We found no item about Roseland's maternity care in this Council term.

What the City does run. The Chicago Department of Public Health told the Council's budget committee Oct. 28 that its WIC program supports more than 17,000 pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children under five, and that its home visiting program serves new mothers. Those services do not replace a hospital birth unit (meeting page). We found no questions about maternity ward closures in that hearing's transcript.

What patients should know

• Starting this weekend, Roseland will not deliver babies. Pregnant patients should ask their doctor which hospital they will deliver at.
• In an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Roseland's ER stays open and will transfer patients with pregnancy complications, CBS reported.
• Some Roseland staff are moving to other hospitals or new jobs at Roseland, and some are retiring, CBS said.

What's next

• Nov. 6: the Department of Family and Support Services and other social service agencies come before the budget committee, according to the hearing schedule.
• Next year: Advocate Trinity's planned obstetrics closure, according to CBS.