Regina Hospital in Hastings is closing its birth center in February. Helen Strike, President, Regina Hospital & River Falls Area Hospital, submitted the following information on the transition of the birth center to United Hospital and Children’s Minnesota:

By Helen Strike

In recent weeks, we have been truly touched to hear how important the history and staff at Regina’s Family Birth Center are to the Hastings community, and we thank everyone who has entrusted Regina Hospital with their birth plans. As you may have heard, as part of Allina Health’s ongoing commitment to providing comprehensive care in the east metro, our family birth center will close and transition deliveries to one location at the Mother Baby Center at United Hospital and Children’s Minnesota, effective Feb. 3, 2022. We recognize that changes in services in our community can be difficult and it was not an easy decision for our organization. For more than 67 years, our dedicated team members have delivered thousands of babies with care, compassion and love. To our dedicated staff impacted by this transition, we will be working closely with you to provide you with other job opportunities at Regina Hospital or within the Allina Health system.

The landscape of obstetric services is changing in our city, our state and the nation with a projected birth rate decline over the next 10 years, due in part to women delaying their pregnancies to later in life and having smaller families. At Regina Hospital, this has impacted us. Our birth center has had fewer than 250 deliveries annually over the last few years.

We have also seen a shift in the care choices of expecting women. The majority of mothers in the communities we serve are choosing to deliver babies outside of Hastings, for example at United Hospital in St. Paul. Our birth center program at Regina Hospital doesn’t provide the array of services some mothers want or need like high-risk pregnancy care or a NICU. One delivery location ensures we can best serve our families during delivery or higher-risk pregnancy.

Our providers, both obstetrician- gynecologists and family practice physicians with obstetrics will remain at Regina Hospital and the Allina Health clinics in Hastings. The majority of prenatal, postnatal and gynecology patient care will be offered at our Hastings locations.

For years, United and Regina hospitals have successfully collaborated to deliver care for our east region communities in many ways, including advancing cardiovascular, cancer, mental health, and general surgery services together. In the upcoming months, we will examine more ways that we can work closer together to continue to provide excellent local care for our communities.

Allina Health is committed to making investments in the Hastings community that will improve the experience for our patients.

We are grateful for the outpouring of support our community has shown for our amazing Birth Center team and we need your continued support of all the services we provide locally to ensure Allina Health remains a community asset for years to come.