Henderson Hospital to shutter maternity unit amid declining births

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

Henderson Hospital will stop offering maternity and neonatal intensive care services at the end of September, hospital officials announced today.

Officials cited the declining birth rate in Southern Nevada, physician retirements, obstetrics office closures and “a significant decrease in patients being referred by maternal fetal medicine specialists” that led to fewer NICU admissions.

“After a very thorough assessment, Henderson Hospital has made a very difficult decision to balance the decreased demand for maternity care with the greater need for medical-surgical inpatient beds,” the hospital said in a statement.

The space now occupied by those maternity services will be remodeled and converted to medical-surgical inpatient beds to meet a growing demand.

The hospital is working with employees, healthcare providers and government agencies to transition maternity patients, staff and physicians.

All mothers and babies will continue receiving “safe, quality treatment and care” before being discharged or transferred to another Valley Health System hospital offering maternity services, such as Centennial Hills, Spring Valley or Summerlin hospitals, they said.

The hospital will continue providing an on-call physician for gynecological emergencies in its main and freestanding emergency departments, and will keep supporting gynecological and breast surgeries.

The maternity unit will immediately be converted to 32 medical-surgical rooms once it closes. The NICU will be renovated to add 32 more medical-surgical beds, with completion expected by the end of 2027.

The closures are expected to affect about 100 staff members, who officials said will work with human resources to apply for openings at Henderson Hospital or maternity-related positions at the Valley Health System's other hospitals.

“In closing, hospital leadership would like to recognize the outstanding expertise and compassionate care our birthplace and NICU teams have provided for almost 10 years, guiding women through difficult labors, joyful deliveries and devastating losses, and their role in supporting new families in Southern Nevada,” officials said.

The 338-bed hospital offers emergency care, surgical services, outpatient wound care and advanced cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurosurgical and spine and orthopedic procedures.

Officials said the hospital “is experiencing significant emergency room volume and admissions for medical and surgical care,” with the ER and inpatient nursing units “regularly at capacity.”

In May, the hospital opened a 35-bed medical-surgical unit to boost capacity and cut ER wait times, but “it did not completely resolve” the problem, officials said.

“As difficult as this is, we see this as the appropriate next step on our journey to provide the most needed care for our community," the hospital stated.