Citing less demand at its Elmer hospital, Inspira Health Network is relocating its maternity service from the facility, leaving Salem County without a hospital that offers maternity care.
Inspira on Sunday said the five-bed unit at the Elmer hospital on Front Street will stop treating pregnant patients around April. The hospital has been known for its maternity care, which offers a midwifery program that now will continue at the company’s Mullica Hill hospital.
Inspira, which operates five hospitals and dozens of outpatient clinics, said a rise in the number of patients seeking advanced clinical capabilities led to a drop in patient numbers at it’s Salem County hospital in recent years. Two-thirds of Salem County patients, according to the company, turn to Inspira’s hospitals in Vineland or Mullica Hill for maternity care.
The Elmer facility in 2023 was recognized for its safe infant care practices by Baby Friendly USA, a national accreditation entity.
“Inspira Health strives to meet our community where they want to receive care, and therefore we are consolidating our maternity care services at our Mullica Hill and Vineland medical centers – building on Elmer’s strengths at these hospitals,” Kathy Scullin Marinelli, an Inspira spokesperson, said in an emailed statement to NJ Advance Media.
Inspira acquired Salem Medical Center on Salem Woodstown Road last year, but the facility is not staffed for birthing. Salem County is one of New Jersey’s most rural, filled with farmland and small towns. Its population is about 65,000, according to 2022 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Elmer hospital still offers a range of medical care, including general surgery, according to Inspira’s website. Elmer won’t be the only New Jersey hospital this decade to cease serving pregnant women.
In 2022, Cape Regional Medical Center, Cape May County’s lone hospital in the Cape May Court House section of Middle Township, announced it would end its obstetrics services, leaving patients to rely on other area facilities for treatment.
Christ Hospital in Jersey City closed its obstetrics and maternity departments in 2020 as part of a consolidation of services throughout the CarePoint Health system. The move left Hoboken University Medical as the only CarePoint hospital with maternity care. Bayonne Medical Center closed its maternity department in 2006.
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
