Hospital in south Arkansas closes maternity ward, adding to region’s shortage

By: Tess Vrbin

Outlets: Arkansas Advocate

Published: January 10, 2026

Words: 770

Last Updated: 1 month ago

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Another rural Arkansas hospital closed its labor and delivery unit Friday, leaving pregnant south Arkansans having to drive nearly an hour for the closest hospital to give birth.

The maternity ward at the Ouachita County Medical Center in Camden closed after hospital administrators concluded that keeping it open “was no longer feasible,” hospital CEO Glenda Harper said Friday afternoon. Harper said last year that the ward “does not make money at this point.”

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