Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has launched a new statewide effort to stabilize maternity care as more rural hospitals struggle to keep labor and delivery units open. The governor is directing $25 million of General Funds to support hospitals that provide maternity services.
Of those funds, $15 million will go to rural hospitals with fewer than 50 beds. Sean Kolmer with the Hospital Association of Oregon explained how stabilization funding can help small hospitals, particularly with staffing.
“It’s really, really, really tough to recruit and retain staff to be on call 24/7,” Kolmer said. “So, what these payments are designed to do is protect and preserve that access for mom when she’s ready at any moment’s notice to come.”
Another $10 million-paired with federal matching funds-will increase maternity care reimbursement rates for larger hospitals.
The state funding arrives as Oregon prepares for major Medicaid cuts under the Trump administration’s spending and tax bill. State officials estimate the Oregon Health Plan could lose more than $11 billion over the next several years.
Kotek’s Tuesday announcement described it as a coordinated effort with the Oregon Health Authority and the Hospital Association of Oregon “to stabilize and sustain labor and delivery services across the state.”
"Every Oregon family deserves access to safe, local maternity care,” Kotek said in a press release. “By bringing together public and private partners, we are aligning policy and funding to keep care close to home. This investment is about more than dollars—it’s about taking steps forward to sustain the health and vitality of communities for generations to come."
Kolmer acknowledged the state’s new investment won’t solve every challenge, but insisted it’s a critical step toward keeping care “close to home” for expecting families.
According to the Oregon Perinatal Collaborative, most of the approximately 40,000 births per year in Oregon occur in one of the 47 birthing hospitals across the state.
These birthing hospitals provide labor, birth, and postpartum services within a range of staffing models.
Delivery attendants in the hospital include obstetrician-gynecologist physicians (OB), Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM), family practice physicians with additional obstetric training (FP-OB), and maternal fetal medicine physicians (MFM). Many of the birthing hospitals have wide catchment areas and serve rural and frontier communities.
Oregon has 15 “Critical Access Hospitals” that provide birthing services. Birth volumes at Oregon hospitals vary significantly. In 2023, Oregon birthing hospitals welcomed as few as 28 babies and as many as 3,361.
While almost 90% of Oregon births occur in a hospital with an annual birth volume of over 500, almost half of the 47 hospitals have annual birth volumes less than 500.
The state hopes the hospital stabilization funding will slow or prevent further maternity unit closures, such as Providence’s recent decision to end inpatient obstetric and newborn care at its Seaside facility.
