COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (WOWT) – CHI Health patients in Council Bluffs expecting a baby in September and beyond won\u2019t be able to deliver at CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs. <\/p>\n
The hospital confirmed to First Alert 6 that it will end labor and delivery care as well as Level 2 NICU services on Aug. 31 and transition patients to CHI Health facilities in Omaha. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur birth centers are located just 15 minutes away,\u201d the CHI Health statement says. <\/p>\n
CHI Health emphasized that the decision had nothing to do with Medicaid cuts or the Public Citizen hospital closure list<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThis was a difficult decision and not one we made lightly. Despite our ongoing efforts, it has become increasingly difficult to sustain the provider coverage and specialized clinical support needed to operate labor and delivery and Level II NICU services over the long term,\u201d the statement reads, in part. \u201cThese are challenges hospitals and health systems across Iowa and the country are facing, particularly around provider availability and specialized clinical coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n CHI Health said patients who move their care to Omaha facilities will still see the same doctors. <\/p>\n \u201cPrenatal and women\u2019s health services will continue locally in Council Bluffs through CHI Health Clinic, and we\u2019re working directly with every expectant mother to help ensure a smooth transition,\u201d the statement says. \u201c…Mercy Council Bluffs remains an important part of CHI Health, and we remain committed to serving the Council Bluffs community.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full statement from CHI Health<\/p>\n \u201cEffective August 31, CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs will transition labor and delivery and Level II NICU services to our CHI Health birth centers in Omaha. Patients will continue seeing the same physicians and receiving the same high-quality care. Our Omaha birth centers are located just 15 minutes away, and together they deliver more than 4,460 babies each year. Prenatal and women\u2019s health services will continue locally in Council Bluffs through CHI Health Clinic, and we\u2019re working directly with every expectant mother to help ensure a smooth transition.<\/p>\n This was a difficult decision and not one we made lightly. Despite our ongoing efforts, it has become increasingly difficult to sustain the provider coverage and specialized clinical support needed to operate labor and delivery and Level II NICU services over the long term. These are challenges hospitals and health systems across Iowa and the country are facing, particularly around provider availability and specialized clinical coverage.<\/p>\n Mercy Council Bluffs remains an important part of CHI Health, and we remain committed to serving the Council Bluffs community. <\/p>\n PLEASE NOTE: Recent reports attributing this decision to external factors, such as Medicaid cuts or the Public Citizen hospital closure list, are inaccurate. This transition is driven solely by the reasoning outlined above.”<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n Watch breaking news unfold on our livestream. Download the First Alert 6 streaming app<\/a> to your TV or find us in your favorite streaming platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 WOWT. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (WOWT) – CHI Health patients in Council Bluffs expecting a baby in September and beyond…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[6729,62699,323493,323492,323491,323495,49121,97,252,253,1341,77420,30578,11282,292379,115551,323494,323496],"class_list":["post-754817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-babies","tag-chi","tag-chi-health","tag-council-bluffs-hospitals","tag-council-bluffs-iowa","tag-delivering-a-baby","tag-delivery","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-medicaid","tag-nicu","tag-planned-parenthood","tag-pregnancy","tag-prenatal","tag-public-citizen","tag-watchdog-report","tag-where-can-i-have-my-baby"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}