Premier Health has confirmed it will close the labor and delivery unit at Upper Valley Medical Center in February.
Maternity services will stop at the Troy hospital on Feb. 29, according to Premier, and the last delivery will be on or before Feb. 21.
In a statement, Premier Health cited a number of reasons for the closure, including declining local birth rates, decrease in births at Upper Valley the past two years, and challenges around physician recruitment.
The Miami County hospital will continue to provide other women’s health services to area patients. Gynecological surgery will continue to be performed at Upper Valley, Premier said, and the hospital will open its new Women’s Imaging Center there in March.
The Premier Women’s Center office in Piqua also will continue to provide local obstetrics patients with prenatal and postnatal care.
Patients will be referred to the Berry Women’s Center at Miami Valley Hospital’s main campus in Dayton for deliveries.
Premier Health said they are working with staff to find comparable positions within the health system, and will retrain staff who choose to move into other specialties.
