North County Health Services maternity center to close Monday ; Patients being transitioned to Bay Area Midwifery

This article previously incorrectly stated the Department of Health's maternity center was the last of the Department's clinical settings. This is not the last clinical setting the Department of Health provides.

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health will close its North County Health Services' maternity center, Monday after $300,000 was cut from the budget.

The maternity center provided prenatal services such as checkups with an obstetrician and prescriptions to about 180 women a year, typically from low-income backgrounds. The center employed five people. There was also a family planning unit in the same center that closed in November.

"The patients have been given a warm hand off to the next provider," said Nancy Tucker, director of Family Health Services.

The County Executive office in conjunction with the Department of Health looked at health care reform and the public services the Department of Health provides and saw they could be provided through private insurers now, said Elin Jones, public information director for the Department of Health.

This closing, announced in February, comes after People's Community Health Centers, which also provided maternity and family planning services for low-income areas, announced it will shut down Monday.

People's said this was due to financial problems, such as a tax lien against the organization, and one of its main funding sources denying to supply them grant money.

Most patients are being transitioned to Bay Area Midwifery, Tucker said. While they no longer offer the clinical setting for expecting mothers, they do have the Healthy Start program where nurses make home visits to pregnant women for case management.

"Years ago we had all kinds of clinical services," she said. "Due to health care reform, we looked at the services we provide."

With the expansion of coverage from Medicaid, the need for the maternity center in north county wasn't as pressing, Tucker said.

The North County Health Services building also offers dental services and WIC, a special supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children. Tucker said many from the maternity center would continue to come in to access WIC after having their child.

"It really was a much better package for the women," she said.