Sun Life Health will stop delivering babies at Banner Casa Grande Medical Center on Aug. 1, forcing expecting mothers to travel about 45 minutes to Chandler to give birth.
The physician group has been the only provider delivering babies at Banner Casa Grande for years, serving about 800 mothers annually. Beginning Aug. 1, those deliveries will move to Banner Ocotillo Medical Center in Chandler.
Sun Life Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jonathan Willms said the decision came down to a physician shortage.
"We had gone from having about 8 or 9 full-time doctors down to only about 4. Really only leaving us just barely enough to cover one hospital," Willms said.
To safely staff a hospital around the clock, Willms said a provider group needs about six doctors to keep call evenly spaced so physicians do not burn out. Losing that coverage at two locations left Sun Life with no choice but to consolidate.
Willms said recruiting OB/GYN physicians to rural communities like Casa Grande has become difficult because doctors who live in the Phoenix area face a demanding ask when they are on call there.
"It's too far to go back and forth from home. So when you're on call here, you're in the hospital for a full 24 hours, which is a lot of time to be away from family, friends, kids, different events going on," Willms said.
Willms, who has worked in the Casa Grande community for 12 years, called the decision one of the hardest of his career.
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"This is one of the heaviest decisions I have had to make in my career. It impacts the lives of many people and not one I have taken lightly. This decision hits close to home, as I have had the privilege of providing care to hundreds of women delivering in Casa Grande. I am grateful for their trust and hope this is a short-term pause," Willms said.
The physician shortage affecting Casa Grande is part of a broader national trend that has had a disproportionate impact on rural communities, where recruiting medical professionals has become an increasingly difficult challenge.
Willms said Sun Life is working to make sure no patient falls through the cracks, including addressing transportation, which he called the number one barrier his patients face. As a federally qualified community health center, he said Sun Life has resources available to help patients who need transportation assistance.
Sun Life Health said it has been communicating the change to patients through social media, mailed notices, and in-office conversations.
"Our long-term goal is to be able to re-establish services here. We hope that this is just a temporary pause," Willms said.
To work toward that goal, Willms said Sun Life has already been taking proactive steps, including training family medicine doctors to perform C-sections and launching a fellowship program in conjunction with the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix to expand that pipeline.
Banner Health sent ABC15 a statement saying:
"Banner Health remains deeply committed to caring for the mothers, babies, and families of Casa Grande and the surrounding communities. We are actively working to preserve and strengthen access to obstetric care in our community. This includes exploring multiple care models, enhancing partnerships, and identifying sustainable solutions to ensure the continued delivery of safe, high-quality services. Our labor and delivery, NICU, and obstetric services will remain open. Banner Casa Grande Medical Center continues to provide essential women's health services, emergency care, and comprehensive support throughout pregnancy. Our care teams are proactively coordinating with patients to ensure everyone has a clear, safe delivery plan and continuity of care. This community is important to us, and so are our patients. We are committed to working toward a stable, long-term solution that preserves access to care close to home."
Willms said Sun Life will continue to offer prenatal and outpatient OB/GYN services at its Casa Grande office and will perform scheduled gynecologic surgeries at Banner Casa Grande.
For expecting mother Ricksta Dickerson, who is due Aug. 11, just 10 days after the change takes effect, the news was unsettling.
"At first I was like, oh, it's fine, like it'll get resolved, and then after speaking with my provider, it was more like, oh no," Dickerson said.
"It immediately threw me for a loop," Dickerson said.
Dickerson, who already has one son born in 2024, said the drive to Chandler will be a logistical challenge on top of an already busy life, but her family is making preparations.
"We put together a plan for August 11th and taking care of our lives and stuff, getting everything situated," Dickerson said.
Her situation is likely shared by many families across the Casa Grande area who are now navigating a significant change to their birth plans with little time to spare.
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