STUART, Fla. (CBS12) — More than a year after Martin County lost its only hospital labor and delivery unit, local leaders are taking another step toward bringing maternity care back home.
Martin County commissioners have approved a long-term lease for county-owned property at 6000 SE Tower Drive in Stuart, directly across from Cleveland Clinic Martin South, where the proposed Treasure Coast Maternity Center will be built.
The project is being led by the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition, which has been working to restore local childbirth services since Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital closed its labor and delivery unit in 2025. The closure forced expectant mothers to leave Martin County to give birth, often traveling to hospitals in neighboring counties.
The new maternity center is designed to change that.
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Plans call for a standalone facility offering birthing suites along with prenatal care, postpartum support, lactation services, mental health resources and other programs aimed at improving maternal and infant health.
The project is expected to cost $10 million.
Healthy Start Coalition CEO Samantha Suffich told CBS12 News the project has already secured $1 million in state appropriations, sponsored by State Sen. Gayle Harrell and State Rep. Toby Overdorf. Organizers will now begin raising the remaining funding needed to move the project forward.
If fundraising and construction stay on schedule, the coalition hopes to complete the maternity center by 2030.
“I think there will be a sense of relief in the community, knowing that this is taken care of. We are preparing for the future growth in the community, and we are taking care of the growing families,” Suffich said.
While the permanent facility is still years away, the coalition continues serving families through its MOM Mobile, which provides prenatal care, education and support throughout the community while Martin County remains without local labor and delivery services.
Martin County commissioners have approved a long-term lease for county-owned property at 6000 SE Tower Drive in Stuart, directly across from Cleveland Clinic Martin South, where the proposed Treasure Coast Maternity Center will be built. (MOM Mobile)
Since September, the mobile program has served more than 50 expectant mothers. Thirty-one women are currently enrolled in care, and 12 babies have been born, according to the coalition.
Suffich said the coalition intentionally placed the mobile clinic in communities where transportation and access to prenatal care have been barriers for expectant mothers.
CBS12 News has followed this story since 2024, covering the announcement that labor and delivery services would close, the community’s concerns about losing local maternity care, and the coalition’s efforts to establish a new birth center.
With county leaders now approving the land for the project, organizers say they have cleared another major milestone toward restoring maternity care for Martin County families.
The Treasure Coast Maternity Center will operate as an out-of-hospital birth center for low-risk pregnancies. Organizers say the facility will work closely with local hospitals and EMS to ensure patient safety and anticipate delivering about 250 babies each year to start.
The Healthy Start Coalition says additional fundraising efforts will be critical to keeping the project on track and meeting its goal of opening the Treasure Coast Maternity Center by 2030.