Today UnityPoint Health announced that the Trinity Muscatine hospital will be pausing labor and delivery services starting on February 7th.

A statement in part from President & CEO of UnityPoint Health – Trinity, Robert Erickson, said the following,

“We believe this is the right thing to do for our patients and our community. Like other health systems across the nation, we are challenged to recruit and retain OB/GYN physicians at rural hospitals. We want every mother to have a great experience they expect in UnityPoint Health and physician coverage challenges impact that. We expect this pause to be temporary while we continue conversations toward a long-term sustainable solution the community deserves.”

Some options for current expecting mothers include the UnityPoint Health – Trinity BirthPlace locations in Bettendorf and Moline, as well University of Iowa hospitals in Iowa City.

UnityPoint Health has not released when they believe labor and delivery services will resume in Muscatine.