Froedtert Closing Menomonee Falls Birth Center July 1
Expectant families in the Menomonee Falls area may need to make alternate plans if their babies are due in July or later. Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin announced they are closing their Menomonee Falls birth center on July 1 and shifting patients to either Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa or Froedtert West Bend Hospital. Staff will also be shifted to those locations.
This is the second unit to be closed at Froedtert Menomonee Falls Hospital, following the hospital’s closure of its behavioral health unit in May of 2023. Froedtert Health also closed the birthing center at its Manitowoc hospital in 2023.
“Like many centers across the country, we are finding that our aging population, coupled with declining local birth rates, means we have an opportunity to transform the way we deliver birthing care,” said Eric Conley, president of the South Region for Froedtert ThedaCare Health, Inc., and president of Froedtert Hospital.
Conley also said that Froedtert will be enhancing its birth center services in West Bend and Wauwatosa “to help ensure we continue to offer the right level of care to the communities we serve.”
Birth rates have been declining for several years due to women waiting until later in life to start their families and many families choosing to have fewer children or none at all. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Wisconsin ranks 30th in the country with a birth rate of 55.7 births per 1,000 women ages 15-44, as of 2021.
This, combined with the aging of the large Baby Boomer generation, is impacting the mix of healthcare services that are most needed from our hospital and clinic systems. In addition, physician shortages in many healthcare specialties, such as psychiatry, are impacting the ability of hospitals to continue offering all services at every location. The consolidation and specialization trend is likely to continue as healthcare systems seek to optimize their services and align them with the needs of each community.