Rural Michigan Hospital Closes Maternity Unit Amid Staffing Woes

As of September 2025, Aspirus Health has announced it will eliminate labor and delivery services at its Ironwood Hospital in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, effective December 31, 2025. The health system cites an inability to secure adequate staffing for the maternity unit as the primary reason for the closure.

Since June 2024, the Ironwood hospital has operated with just one full-time family practice/obstetrics physician, making 24/7 coverage unsustainable. Despite years of aggressive recruiting, Aspirus has failed to build a full maternal care team for the region.

The closure means pregnant women will now have to travel 45 miles to the Tamarack Health Ashland Medical Center in Ashland, Wisconsin, the next closest hospital with a labor and delivery unit. Nurses are outraged, warning that the emergency department staff at Ironwood lack the specialized training to handle complicated childbirths.

While Aspirus Ironwood received $1.2 million in state funding for obstetric and gynecological care in the 2025 fiscal year, the hospital is still shuttering its birthing unit. The closure is part of a broader trend of rural hospital maternity ward closures across Michigan, driven by factors like declining birth rates and the high costs of maintaining 24/7 staffing.

Experts warn that the loss of local obstetric services not only impacts pregnant women, but also threatens access to gynecological care for all women in the region as doctors may choose to relocate. As the shortage of obstetricians and gynecologists nationwide continues to deepen, rural communities like the Upper Peninsula face an increasingly dire crisis in maternal and reproductive healthcare.