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Roseland Hospital suspends maternity ward, deepening South Side maternal care gap

Roseland Hospital suspends maternity ward, deepening South Side maternal care gap

Built World Chicago, IL local

Safety net hospital's labor and delivery unit closes Oct. 31 with no date for reopening

Today: Nurses and advocates demand a plan as closure nears

Overview

Updated 2 hours ago

Roseland Community Hospital's labor and delivery unit closes Oct. 31 with no reopening date set. The suspension makes Roseland the latest South Side hospital to end maternity care, after years of financial strain at the safety net hospital.

Pregnant patients will now travel at least 30 minutes to the nearest delivery unit, at Advocate Trinity Hospital or UChicago Medicine. The burden lands hardest on Black women, who face the state's highest pregnancy-related death rates.

Why it matters

South Side families lose a nearby hospital to give birth in, adding travel time and risk to a region already short on maternal care.

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Key Indicators

5+
Labor and delivery units closed on Chicago's South Side since 2019
Roseland is the latest; Advocate Trinity, scheduled to close in 2028, would be another.
3x
Black women's pregnancy-related death rate vs. white women in Illinois
Illinois Department of Public Health found 91% of maternal deaths potentially preventable.
30+ min
Minimum travel time for patients to next delivery unit
Dr. Joy West says patients will travel at least a half hour once Roseland closes.

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People Involved

CR
Courtney Reeves
Registered nurse, Roseland Community Hospital labor and delivery
Facing displacement as unit closes Oct. 31
 Tim Egan
Tim Egan
CEO, Roseland Community Hospital
Overseeing the Oct. 31 suspension; says it was not a choice
DW
Dr. Joy West
Chair of obstetrics, Roseland Community Hospital
Developing transition plans for current obstetrics patients
TM
Tayo Mbande
Co-founder and CEO, Chicago Birthworks Collective
Coordinating patient transitions, insurance questions, and transportation
SA
Star August Ali
Executive director and founder, Black Midwifery Collective
Building midwifery training program at Kennedy-King College

Organizations Involved

RC
Roseland Community Hospital
Safety net hospital
Suspending labor and delivery Oct. 31

A safety net hospital at 45 W. 111th St. serving patients regardless of ability to pay.
Chicago Birthworks Collective
Chicago Birthworks Collective
Community maternal health organization
Providing doula support and transition help to Roseland patients

Community organization offering doula support and care coordination for families in Chicago's maternity system.
BM
Black Midwifery Collective
Community-based birth care organization
Training midwives to offset hospital closures

Organization working to expand direct-entry midwifery care, with a training program at Kennedy-King College.
ID
Illinois Department of Public Health
State agency
Published maternal mortality data cited in coverage

State agency tracking maternal deaths; found Black women more than twice as likely to die from any pregnancy-related condition.

Timeline

2019 October 2026

7 events Latest: Today
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Nurses and advocates demand a plan as closure nears

    Today Advocacy

    Block Club reports closure impact; nurses and advocates demand a plan for patients.

  2. Prime Healthcare ends obstetrics at three hospitals

    Closure

    Prime Healthcare says it will end obstetrics at three hospitals, including Resurrection Medical Center.

  3. Roseland announces labor and delivery suspension

    Announcement

    Roseland leadership announces labor and delivery suspension; date later moved to Oct. 31.

  4. Roseland gets Medicaid advance for payroll

    Financial

    Roseland seeks state funding, receives Cook County Medicaid advance to make payroll.

  5. Weiss Hospital closes emergency department

    Closure

    Weiss Hospital in Uptown closes its emergency department after losing Medicaid, Medicare access.

  6. Illinois Midwifery Practice Act takes effect

    Policy

    Illinois Midwifery Practice Act takes effect, allowing licensed midwives to practice statewide.

  7. South Side starts losing maternity units

    Background

    South Side starts losing hospital labor and delivery units; at least five close by 2026.

Scenarios

1

Roseland's labor and delivery unit stays closed

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Block Club Chicago, ABC7 Chicago

The unit closes Oct. 31 as scheduled with no reopening date. No state or county funding materializes to restore it. Patients shift to Advocate Trinity and UChicago Medicine, adding travel and wait times, while the obstetrics clinic continues without delivering babies.

2

State or county funding restores Roseland maternity care

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: NBC Chicago reporting on hospital financial report to state regulators; community advocates

Illinois or Cook County provides emergency funding for safety net hospitals, allowing Roseland to reopen labor and delivery. The hospital already received a Cook County Medicaid advance in July 2026 to make payroll, showing the state has intervened before.

3

Advocate Trinity closes on schedule, deepening South Side obstetric desert

Possible Resolves by Q2 2029

Discussed by: ABC7 Chicago (quoting Dr. Joy West on Trinity's scheduled 2028 closure)

Advocate Trinity Hospital, the next closest delivery unit to Roseland, closes in 2028 as scheduled. The new hospital under construction does not include labor and delivery. South Side patients travel even farther, with fewer options and greater pressure on UChicago Medicine.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2004-2014

Rural U.S. Obstetric Unit Closures (2004-2014)

University of Minnesota researchers found 179 rural counties lost hospital-based obstetric services between 2004 and 2014, leaving more than half of rural counties without hospital maternity care. Many closures followed financial losses at small hospitals with low delivery volumes.

Then

Maternity care shifted to regional centers, often an hour or more away.

Now

Rural patients now travel farther, with documented increases in out-of-hospital births and complications in some states.

Why this matters now

Roseland's closure follows the same pattern — a low-volume unit at a cash-strapped hospital closing and pushing care to distant facilities — now playing out in an urban neighborhood.

June-July 2019

Hahnemann University Hospital Closure (2019)

Hahnemann University Hospital, a safety net teaching hospital in Philadelphia, filed for bankruptcy and closed in July 2019. It was the only hospital serving parts of North Philadelphia, including emergency, maternity, and trauma care.

Then

Patients were redirected to other hospitals across the city; about 2,500 workers lost jobs.

Now

The closure left a persistent care gap in North Philadelphia, with residents facing longer ambulance rides and nearby emergency room closures.

Why this matters now

Like Hahnemann, Roseland is a safety net hospital where one department's financial failure ripples across a whole community's access to care.

Sources

(3)
Block Club Chicago ABC7 Chicago NBC Chicago