The Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, New York, a part of the UVM Health Network, announced Tuesday that it has closed the hospital’s maternity unit.
In 2021 births at the Family Maternity Center at the northern New York hospital declined more than 46 percent with fewer than 10 per month. Alice Hyde President Michelle LeBeau explained that the hospital ward had been on diversion since last October, indicating the hospital is unable to provide a service.
“And when we looked at the number of births that we were having here in Malone we found that our numbers were declining," LeBeau said.
The hospital has created a nurse navigator position to work with expectant mothers to help them make birth plans. The nearest hospitals are in Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake and Potsdam.