KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Research Medical Center, located at Meyer Boulevard and Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, will stop providing labor and delivery and NICU services as of Sept. 8, 2025.
The hospital cited an over 80% decrease in the community’s use of those services at Research over the last several years.
"Our numbers definitely drastically dropped. But there are still emergency things that come through here every day, if not multiple times a week," said Jessica Wheat.
Wheat has been a labor and delivery nurse at Research Medical Center for six years and worries about the impact on the community.
"There's not a lot of access to care in general, so knowing that my mothers and the babies will be without that is absolutely heartbreaking for many of us on the unit," Wheat said.
For patients like Meka Brown, Research Medical Center holds special significance. It's where she was born, where her second child was born, and what inspired her to study nursing.
"It's just very sad and disheartening...I can't even find the words to say," Brown said about the closure announcement."For me, Research was a very healing place."
Brown said she had a pulmonary embolism with her first child at a different hospital, making her positive experience at Research Medical Center particularly meaningful. Before her positive experience giving birth at Research, she said she was scared to have more children.
"It healed more than just me, wanting to have more kids in a family like it. It healed like my whole goal, like I've wanted this dream since I was a kid," Brown said.
KSHB 41 reached out to the hospital for an interview. In a statement to KSHB 41, a hospital spokesperson said:
"Research Medical Center regularly assesses community needs to ensure we provide high-quality, compassionate care where it is most needed. Due to an 80% decrease in demand for labor and delivery and NICU services at the hospital over recent years, these services will be discontinued, effective September 8, 2025.
Research Medical Center has a rich 134-year history of caring for our patients, and caring for our nurses, colleagues, and each other.
The hospital proactively worked with human resources, nursing leadership and others to ensure impacted employees are offered opportunities to continue their careers within Research Medical Center or at local affiliated hospitals within the health system. Our top priority is to ensure our valued nurses understand the vast opportunities and resources available.
There are no plans to eliminate additional services or staff. We continue to invest in nurses, their careers and the future of healthcare through the new $34.5 million Research College of Nursing, set to open in early 2026."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
