What Does It Take to Restore Rural Maternity Care? One NC Hospital Shows a Way.

North Carolina Health News

Mar 6, 2026

Profiles a labor and delivery department in a rural North Carolina Critical Access Hospital. Maternity services were re-started in 2020 using family physicians after closing the department in 1991. Describes maternity care access across North Carolina, challenges with sustaining the service for rural communities, and how they can be a model to other rural communities.

Access · Closures of healthcare facilities and services · Critical Access Hospitals · Healthcare business and finance · Maternal health and prenatal care · Maternal health workforce · Physicians · Primary care · Sustainability of programs · North Carolina