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Too costly to keep, but too important to lose. Solving paradox of NC rural women’s health services

NC Health News

By Jane Winik Sartwell Carolina Public Press The paradox of rural womens health care in North Carolina: Small, remote hospitals cant afford to keep delivering babies and providing other critical OB/GYN services, but their communities cant afford for them to stop. No analogous system exists for maternal care in North Carolina.

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Financial pressures prompt women’s services cuts at NC rural hospitals

NC Health News

Credit: Melissa Sue Gerrits / Carolina Public Press Maintaining specialized, 24/7 staff, up-to-date equipment, and adequate space for a labor and delivery unit, also called a maternity ward, generates substantial expenses. Closing maternity wards has sometimes served as a warning sign of deeper financial troubles to come.