Inpatient labor and delivery services at the Birthplace at Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in Fort Madison will end after December 31, 2026.
Great River Health announced Thursday that those services will be expanded at the Women and Family Center at its West Burlington campus as part of a system-wide realignment of maternal care.
The change coincides with the upcoming retirement of Dr. Timothy Staudte, the sole obstetrician at the Fort Madison Women’s Health Clinic. Staudte has served the community for more than 21 years and plans to retire to pursue mission work with his church.
To maintain access to maternal services amid ongoing workforce shortages, Great River Health will expand its hub-and-spoke care model, which centralizes labor and delivery services at a primary location while continuing prenatal and postnatal care through local outpatient clinics. That model is already in place at Henry County Health Center and will be extended to Fort Madison by the end of 2026.
Under the plan, Women’s Health services in Fort Madison and at the Keokuk Clinic will continue and be strengthened with additional providers, including nurse midwives. Dr. Staudte will continue to care for obstetric patients with expected deliveries before the end of 2026 and will see new gynecology patients throughout the year.
Great River Health notes that efforts to recruit a replacement OB-GYN have been unsuccessful, reflecting a nationwide shortage. Iowa currently ranks last in the nation for OB-GYNs per capita.
A public forum to discuss the transition is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13, at 3:30 p.m. in the Administrative Conference Rooms at Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in Fort Madison. The public is invited to attend.
Read the full press release from Great River Health here.