Los Alamos Medical Center shifts maternity deliveries to regional hospitals

Los Alamos families who expected to deliver at the county’s only hospital will now have to leave town for the birth itself. Los Alamos Medical Center said April 24 that it is moving maternity deliveries and higher-acuity obstetric care to regional hospitals, while keeping prenatal care, postpartum care and women’s health visits in Los Alamos.

The change reshapes a service many residents have relied on for decades. LAMC describes itself as the county’s only hospital, a 47-bed acute care facility that has served northern New Mexico for more than 70 years and employs more than 300 health care workers. Until now, its Family Birthing Center and Special Care Nursery have given local patients access to a board-certified neonatologist, neonatal nurse practitioners and nursing staff in eight private rooms, including four labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms.

Under the new model, those local appointments remain in place through Los Alamos Women’s Health. Patients can still see obstetrics and gynecology clinicians in Los Alamos, including Daniel Marancenbaum and Sharon Ransom, for prenatal follow-up, routine women’s care and recovery visits after delivery. What changes is the final destination for labor and birth. For many patients, that will now be Presbyterian Española Hospital or CHRISTUS St. Vincent in Santa Fe.

Both regional hospitals say they can handle births and more complex cases. Presbyterian Española Hospital lists women’s care, including labor and delivery, among its services, and says its OB teams care for both low-risk and high-risk births. CHRISTUS St. Vincent says its women’s care includes general and high-risk obstetrics and gynecology, with maternal-fetal medicine for high-risk pregnancies. CHRISTUS also operates a 24/7 laborist model, which keeps obstetric providers available around the clock.

The practical effect is a split model of care. Prenatal patients may continue building a relationship with familiar Los Alamos clinicians, but when it is time to deliver, they will need to travel to a regional hospital and navigate that hospital’s admission process, in-network coverage and transfer arrangements. The arrangement is designed to preserve local access where it is most manageable, while shifting labor and higher-risk care to larger facilities with broader obstetric coverage.

The move also reflects a larger regional buildup in women’s health. CHRISTUS St. Vincent announced in 2025 that it bought 1.64 acres in Los Alamos for a planned 25,000-square-foot multi-specialty facility, underscoring how maternity and specialty care are increasingly being organized across county lines. For Los Alamos families, the most immediate change is simpler and more disruptive at the same time: the checkups stay home, but the delivery room does not.