Idaho hospital to stop labor and delivery services

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n Idaho hospital will stop labor and delivery services, citing doctor shortages and the "political climate," the hospital announced Friday.

"Highly respected, talented physicians are leaving. Recruiting replacements will be extraordinarily difficult," Bonner General Health, located in the city of Sandpoint, said in a news release.

Pregnant women who utilized Bonner General, a 25-bed hospital, will now have to drive to hospitals or birthing centers in Coeur d'Alene or Spokane to give birth.

In 2022, doctors delivered 265 babies at Bonner General and admitted less than 10 pediatric patients, the hospital said.

In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion bans have added another challenge to rural hospitals that have struggled to keep their doors open and their facilities fully staffed and running.

Nationwide, hospitals have been sounding the alarm that states with strict abortion laws risk losing staff or doctors to other regions. According to the Associated Press, in Indiana, one of the first states to restrict abortion following the Supreme Court's decision, the Indiana Hospital Association said the state is "creating an atmosphere that will be perceived as antagonistic to physicians."

Idaho has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. According to the Associated Press, in a court brief filed in August 2022 in support of a Justice Department lawsuit against the Idaho abortion ban, medical groups argued that Idaho physicians are forced to choose whether to break state or federal law.

In a report last September, Pew found that Idaho was one of six states in which authorities can prosecute health care providers for performing abortions

Often residents in rural areas are left to drive hundreds of miles to access healthcare. In 2019, Pew Research published a study showing that rural Americans live an average of 10.5 miles from the nearest hospital, compared with 5.6 miles for people in suburban areas, and 4.4 miles for those in urban areas.

we have a critical mass of 'muuuricans who have lost their collective minds.

I've been to Sandpoint, before.. it was either in 1991 Or earlier. Shouldn't be too surprising that place is full of ignorance.. I remember other kids there asking us if we had power (electricity) in Canada.. and if we lived in igloos or rode on dogsleds - and they weren't joking.

As for Doctors migrating away from states that can prosecute them for providing healthcare services.. good - I hope more of them leave in solidarity with those that face prosecution. Mass exodus of Medical Doctors from backwards states. If they want to live like it's the 1400's, then let them.. complete with lack of access to modern medicine.

As for Doctors migrating away from states that can prosecute them for providing healthcare services.. good - I hope more of them leave in solidarity with those that face prosecution. Mass exodus of Medical Doctors from backwards states. If they want to live like it's the 1400's, then let them.. complete with lack of access to modern medicine.

The problem with that tempting solution is that even in the most MAGA states you have plenty of people in those states that are not MAGAs but still will receive 1400s style medical care. And leaving is not always a realistic option.

Sandpoint is the birthplace of Sarah Palin, and also not far from Hayden Lake, headquarters of the Aryan Nations.

This is tragic for health care, especially in rural areas. There could be a return of midwives to rural areas for birthing, but the general doctor flight will affect all health care for anyone without significant financial means.