![\"Photographed](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/NovantHealth_HiltonHeadMedicalDM02.jpg\" "\\"Photographed")
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Photographed on July 29, 2025, is the new signage for Hilton Head Medical Center, formerly Hilton Head Hospital, which was acquired by Novant Health In February 2024.<\/p>\n
Drew Martin<\/p>\n
dmartin@islandpacket.com<\/p>\n
Babies will no longer be born at Novant Health Hilton Head Medical Center starting this summer, a move that the medical group said reflects evolving birth patterns across the region.<\/p>\n
Joel Taylor, president of Novant Health Hilton Head market, said the health care system is transitioning its hospital-based labor and delivery services from Hilton Head to its Coastal Carolina Medical Center in Hardeeville starting July 17. Taylor sent a memo to staff last week announcing the change; the medical group confirmed it Tuesday.<\/p>\n
About 15 patients will be impacted for the month of August, Taylor said. Patients who receive pregnancy-related care at physician clinics on the island won\u2019t be impacted, he said.<\/p>\n
The Hilton Head hospital\u2019s emergency department will remain fully equipped to care for \u201curgent maternal and fetal needs,\u201d including a dedicated room for obstetric emergencies and on-site ambulance availability if a transfer is needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor generations, families have welcomes their babies on Hilton Head Island, and we are honored to have been part of so many special moments,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThis history makes the transition bittersweet, but it reflects our responsibility to meet evolving community needs while continuing to deliver the highest quality care for moms and babies across the Lowcountry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why babies will soon be born in Bluffton<\/p>\n
The change is happening, Taylor said, because birth patterns have changed. Hilton Head Medical Center accounts for less than 20% of deliveries at the medical group\u2019s local hospitals. Novant\u2019s new Bluffton Medical Center, which is currently under construction, will offer on-site labor and delivery, he said.<\/p>\n
Prenatal and OBGYN appointments will continue at Novant Health Riverside Women\u2019s Care locations, including the one on Hilton Head, Taylor said. No jobs will be lost; team members have been reassigned to comparable roles or offered new roles within the health care system.<\/p>\n
Beds currently used for labor and delivery at the hospital will be repurposed to \u201cexpand services most needed by the island\u2019s growing older population,\u201d Taylor said, including cardiology, primary care, midlife women\u2019s health, urology and cancer screening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have listened to our communities and are committed to investing in what they need most,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Novant Health expaning across the Lowcountry<\/p>\n
Novant Health acquired the Hilton Head and Hardeeville hospitals in 2024 as part of a $2.4 billion deal with Tenet Healthcare Corporation<\/a>. The purchase also included<\/a> the Bluffton Okatie Outpatient Center, 12 physician clinics, the Tidewatch Emergency Department in Bluffton and medical facilities in Charleston County.<\/p>\n The company and its competitors are also expanding their presence across the growing Lowcountry.<\/p>\n Novant broke ground on two large medical facilities<\/a> \u2014 Novant Health Bluffton Emergency Department and Novant Health Bluffton Health Place \u2014 on Buckwalter Parkway last spring. The company is also planning a freestanding emergency department and a primary care clinic in Beaufort.<\/a><\/p>\n Beaufort Memorial Hospital is also expanding into Bluffton with its Bluffton Community Hospital, which is currently under construction. MUSC Health is building the Bluffton Medical Pavilion, a three-story, 54,000-square-foot medical office building set to open this year.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Hilton Head Island Packet<\/p>\n