South Korean city of 100,000 loses only maternity facility

Miryang Jeil Hospital, the only maternity facility serving the city of nearly 100,000 residents, will cease operations following its final day of patient care on August 31. The closure leaves expectant mothers in the region without local delivery services, forcing them to travel to neighboring cities for childbirth care.

The hospital's shutdown underscores deepening healthcare disparities in South Korea's countryside. Rural communities have struggled to maintain essential medical services as younger doctors increasingly concentrate in Seoul and other major urban areas, where patient volumes and earning potential are higher. The aging of provincial populations has compounded these pressures, reducing demand for obstetric services even as critical care gaps widen.

Miryang joins a growing list of South Korean municipalities facing maternity care shortages. The country's below-replacement fertility rate and demographic shift toward an older society have strained rural healthcare infrastructure, with several provincial hospitals closing obstetric departments in recent years.

Prospective mothers in Miryang will now need to travel approximately 30 kilometers or more to access delivery services at hospitals in larger nearby cities. Healthcare advocates warn that the closure may further discourage childbirth in the region, potentially accelerating population decline in already depopulating rural areas.