ELKTON, Md. — ChristianaCare Union Hospital will stop delivering babies on June 30, leaving Cecil County without hospital-based labor and delivery services.
Expectant mothers will be directed to ChristianaCare's Newark campus in Delaware, about 13 miles away, or to UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center Bel Air in Harford County, roughly 40 miles away. ChristianaCare says patients who arrive at Union Hospital in active labor will still be evaluated and cared for immediately, and no one will be turned away. If labor is progressing quickly, delivery could still occur at Union Hospital before transfer to another facility.
The closure comes just two years after the hospital renovated and upgraded its Family Birth Center, and after it scaled back maternal services in April, limiting them to Monday through Wednesday.
READ MORE: Elkton's Union Hospital cites growing 65+ population as reason for family birth center closure
Joan Pirrung, campus president of Union Hospital, ChristianaCare, pointed to longstanding staffing shortages and low birth volumes.
"It's based on a few main factors. First, being the declining birth volumes at Union Hospital and a shortage of specialty physicians, specifically in providers and obstetricians. Despite rigorous efforts, we have not been able to effectively recruit these physicians to our community," Pirrung said.
State filings show pediatric staffing issues at the hospital date back to 2018, when a previous provider walked away citing low patient volumes. Newborns were then assessed and cared for primarily by employed physicians or rotating moonlighting providers, but then multiple pediatric physicians resigned between 2020 and 2024 due to geographic location, low patient volumes (fewer than 0.5 deliveries per day), and few available subspecialty resources. ChristianaCare says it spent years trying to fill that gap, but temporary providers became more expensive in 2024. By April, every single pediatric position was filled by a temporary provider.
Cecil County Executive Adam Streight says he was told the closure was a business decision and that continuing labor and delivery services no longer made financial sense. The hospital disputes that characterization, saying the decision was driven by an aging population and changing health care needs, not finances.
"The decision has been very clear that it's based on the quality and safety related to what we're seeing in a changing landscape from a provider deficit standpoint. It's not focused on the finances," Pirrung said.
The closure raises access concerns for many families, particularly given that about 60 percent of Union Hospital patients are on Medicaid. Pirrung said the hospital has worked to address those concerns.
"Most Maryland Medicaids are accepted at the Delaware campus. We have contracts that have already been solidified. There are very few that don't, and we continue to move forward and are very hopeful that we're going to be able to continue to work with those Medicaid contracts," Pirrung said.
One mother, who asked not to be identified over job concerns, had planned to deliver at Union Hospital in April. She learned that same month that full services would only be available Monday through Wednesday just four weeks before her due date.
"We were kind of just going on hope that I would start laboring on a Monday or a Tuesday so we could just kind of keep the plan, which isn't what happened, unfortunately," she said.
She was also concerned about being separated from her baby. The hospital’s FAQ states that mothers and newborns requiring transfer may be transported separately so each can receive specialized care.
“We were very concerned not only with the cost, but also it was two ambulance transfers. So you're separating mom and baby like in the most critical time, like the first few hours of birth,” she said. “It would affect your breastfeeding, bonding, all of that.”
And she believes finances played a role in the decision, regardless of what the hospital says.
"Their pharmacy has more hours available to patients to pick up outpatient medications than they do for people to deliver their babies," she said. "Maternal care OB delivery is not a priority. It's not a guaranteed moneymaker. You can't put every baby on aspirin, guarantee every mom's going to have a baby, that kind of thing. So it just seems like a very intentional decision, so that they can prioritize other specialties that will definitely bring them money," she said.
According to County Executive Streight, 31 positions at the Union campus will be eliminated, including two physicians and 24 nurses.
The hospital said specific plans for repurposing the Family Birth Center have not yet been decided. Caregivers will have the opportunity to apply for other positions within the hospital system.
Because Union Hospital is the only hospital in Cecil County, state regulations require a public hearing before the closure can take effect. ChristianaCare has filed notice with the Maryland Health Care Commission and a public hearing is scheduled for June 11 at 5:00 p.m. at the Comfort Inn & Suites, 1 Center Dr., North East, MD, 21901.
Click here to read County Executive Streight's full statement on the closure.
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