Northern Light Health is suspending birthing services at its Northern Light Inland Hospital and Northern Light Women’s Health in Waterville.
The health care system announced the decision on Thursday and said it was necessary due to ongoing recruiting challenges for labor and delivery providers, according to Northern Light Health spokesperson Suzanne Spruce. The change will take effect March 1, 2025.
“Suspending this service allows us the time needed to design a new program that supports consistent access to high-quality prenatal care, and labor and delivery for the communities we serve, and that our patients expect and deserve,” Spruce said.
This is the latest in a series of major challenges the Brewer-based hospital system has faced recently. Over the past few months, a credit rating agency downgraded its scores for Northern Light Health due to ongoing financial losses, multiple high-ranking Northern Light executives resigned within days of one another and the system announced it will outsource roughly 500 jobs.
Northern Light will now work with pregnant patients in the Waterville area to transition their care to whichever provider and facility they choose, Spruce said.
“We are confident that by working together with our colleagues at MaineGeneral Health, Redington Fairview Hospital, and other Northern Light Health facilities, all expecting parents in Waterville and the surrounding area will have access to the birthing experience they want and deserve,” Spruce said.