A news report finds that one in three counties in this country remains a “maternity care desert” including Banks and three other northeast Georgia counties. In total, 5.8 million women and 358,000 infants live in counties without full access to maternity care. That includes nearly half of Georgia’s 159 counties.
The March of Dimes report also documents an accelerating threat to local care: at least 96 hospital labor and delivery units closed across 35 states between 2024 and early 2026. In nearly 60% of affected counties, the closed unit was the community’s only birthing facility. These closures increased average travel time to maternity care by 25 minutes in affected communities.
Rural and under-resourced communities continue to face the greatest barriers. More than half of U.S. counties lack a hospital with labor and delivery services, and residents of maternity care deserts travel approximately three times longer to reach one than residents of full-access counties.
In addition to Banks, counties in our corner of the state that fall into that category are Fannin, Towns, and Elbert. Two other counties, White and Barrow, are considered “low access to care” counties. Gainesville’s Northeast Georgia Medical Center draw patients from several counties in northeast Georgia.
You can read more about the findings here: Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. | March of Dimes