GROVE HILL, Ala. — One of the last remaining birthing units in southern Alabama will close next month to qualify for federal funding that will save the hospital’s emergency services, but doctors warn the move may cost newborns and pregnant women essential access to obstetric care.
Nestled in rural Clarke County, the small, nonprofit Grove Hill Memorial Hospital will discontinue its labor and delivery services in mid-August, the governing board announced earlier this month.
The board said closure was necessary for the hospital to qualify for much needed federal funding that is designated for rural emergency hospitals, defined as facilities with fewer than 50 beds that provide 24/7 emergency care and no inpatient services, including obstetric
But the federal funding comes at a steep cost. The closure marks the fourth labor and delivery unit to close statewide in less than a year, including a facility in a neighboring county that referred many patients to Grove Hill after closing in November.
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In the coming months, a large part of southern Alabama will no longer have close access to hospital obstetric delivery services.
Dr. Max Rogers, the obstetrician-gynecologist who runs the labor and delivery unit at Grove Hill Memorial, sees an average of 300 women a month and delivers 10 to 15 babies. Rogers said the lack of local care could put some mothers and babies at risk.
“I used to say that outcomes are gonna be worse,” Rogers said. “And that’s a nice, polite euphemism for babies are going to die and mothers are going to die in emergency rooms because of a lack of prenatal care and a lack of obstetrical care.”
This would apply to a small but significant fraction of births involving serious complications. Although emergency rooms are equipped to handle the vast majority of normal births, some conditions require rapid transportation to a facility with a doctor qualified to operate on pregnant women, Rogers said.
Anna Retic, 26, has been driving 45 minutes from her home near Pine Hill to Grove Hill for all seven months of her pregnancy because it was the closest facility offering both birthing and prenatal services.
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The Grove Hill Memorial Hospital in Grove Hill Ala., on July 17, 2024. Safiyah Riddle / AP
She considered herself lucky. She works as a bank teller and is able to take time off to make the trip to her monthly appointments, which were scheduled to increase to once every two weeks as her October delivery date gets closer.
Now, the closest option for her to give birth is a hospital almost twice as far away.
“It’s crazy,” Retic said. “If you’re in labor, you have to rush two hours away, you might have that baby in the car. I don’t know. I pray that doesn’t happen to me.”
Alabama’s delivery health outcomes already lag far behind the rest of the country. One study found Alabama had a maternal mortality rate of 64.63 deaths per 100,000 births between 2018 and 2021, nearly double the national rate of 34.09 per 100,000 births. That jumps to 100.07 deaths for Black women in the state.
Rural hospitals have struggled to maintain labor and delivery units for decades. Experts cite declining births, low Medicaid reimbursement and staffing shortages as significant causes of financial decline.
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But some of the strain is more particular to Alabama, which is one of 10 states nationally that has not expanded Medicaid.
Dr. Donald Williamson, president of the Alabama Health Association, said a major challenge for rural hospitals in the region is a significant number of patients that come through the front door are uninsured.
The expansion of Medicaid would improve reimbursements and hospital revenue, Williamson said, and until then he expects more hospitals across the state to make the same difficult decision made at Grove Hill.
Nationwide, 28 hospitals have converted to the rural emergency designation since the program was rolled out in 2023, according to the University of North Carolina’s Sheps Center for Health Services Research. But Grove Hill will be the first that will have to close a labor and delivery unit to become a rural emergency hospital, according to the National Rural Health Association.
While the program has offered a unique lifeline to rural hospitals on the brink of collapse, experts and legislators have warned it might come at the cost of essential services like inpatient psychiatric or other rehabilitative care.
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U.S. Senators Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas, and Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, introduced legislation in May to allow rural emergency hospitals to maintain some inpatient services, including obstetrics.
Ultimately, Rogers in Grove Hill said he supports the conversion to a rural emergency hospital, even if the change means closing the obstetrics department where he has formed close relationships with many patients. He believes it is the hospital’s only financial option and important in maintaining emergency services.
Still, Rogers has significant concerns about the future of the federal program.
“Every single one of us needs to understand that while this REH status may protect a lot of rural hospitals, it’s coming with a price. And that’s what I don’t want everybody to gloss over,” he said.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. with the 22nd overall pick of the 2026 NBA draft Tuesday night.
Philon is the first pick of the Mike Gansey era after he replaced Daryl Morey as the team’s president of basketball operations.
Who is Labaron Philon Jr.?
Philon, 20, led the Crimson Tide in scoring last season, averaging 22.0 points on nearly 40% shooting on 3-pointers. He was the focal point of one of the nation’s most potent offenses, as Alabama led the country in points per game in the 2025-26 season. The Crimson Tide (No. 16) finished the season with a 25-10 record and went 13-5 against conference opponents.
Philon, who helped lead Alabama to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, earned Third-Team All-American and First-Team All-SEC honors in his sophomore season.
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In 33 games last season for Alabama, Philon scored 725 total points, which is ranked third-most by a player in a single season in program history.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver shakes hands with Labaron Philon Jr. after he is drafted twenty-second overall by the Philadelphia 76ers during Round One of the 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 23, 2026 in New York City.
Arturo Holmes / Getty Images
Philon was the 34th-ranked basketball recruit in the country entering his freshman season at Alabama, according to 247sports. The four-star guard initially committed to playing at Auburn, but decommitted. He then signed a letter of intent to play at Kansas, but didn’t play there, either. He then committed to the Crimson Tide in April 2024.
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Philon impressed as a freshman at Alabama and averaged 10.6 points in 37 games. He declared for the 2025 NBA draft but then withdrew and returned for his sophomore season, where he saw his scoring average jump more than 10 points.
Philon is a Mobile, Alabama, native and played at Baker High School in Mobile County, where he scored 2,334 points in three seasons. He was named the Class 7A Player of the Year twice.
As a junior, he averaged 35 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists and was named Alabama Mr. Basketball, which is given to the best high school boys’ basketball player in the state. Philon transferred to Link Academy, a boarding school in Missouri, for his senior year of high school.
Philon now joins a backcourt headlined by Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe heading into the 2026-27 season. Quentin Grimes could return to Philadelphia next season and add even more depth, but he’s an unrestricted free agent.
The pick the Sixers used to pick Philon was acquired in the deal that sent Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline.
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Labaron Philon Jr. scouting report
CBS Sports had Philon ranked as the 14th-best prospect in the 2026 NBA draft.
Here are his strengths and weaknesses, according to CBS Sports:
Strengths
On-ball creator who made an extreme leap as a sophomore, ranking in the 99th percentile in isolations (was 24th percentile as a freshman) and 94th as a pick-and-roll handler (was 32nd percentile as a freshman). Combines smooth attack with sudden change of speed and direction, dexterity, and finishing craft in the lane.
Shot-maker who can make tough shots off both the catch (36% on contested catch-and-shoot 3-pointers), dribble (38% from deep), and has extreme gravity when he’s spacing the floor (46% on unguarded catch-and-shoot 3-pointers).
Shown pliability to thrive in different roles over the years and is a similarly versatile creator, because he’s a scoring threat at multiple levels and also an accurate, and somewhat creative, passer with both hands off the dribble.
Weaknesses
Inconsistent defensive approach. Showed more engagement and potential as a freshman, but couldn’t maintain that as a sophomore when taking on a bigger offensive role.
Lacks overwhelming physicality or highest level explosiveness, and didn’t add any notable muscle mass between his freshman and sophomore seasons (175 pounds at 2025 combine and 176 at 2026 combine).
Unclear how well his creation scales to the NBA level when he will have less usage and volume coupled by more physicality in opposing defenders.
Alabama football hosted a hometown kid for an official visit last weekend when it got Jeremiah Beverley on campus for an official visit.
Beverley attends Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and ESPN currently has him rated as a four-star recruit. He is considering Alabama, Cincinnati, Wake Forest and others.
The Crimson Tide offered Beverley earlier this month and got him on campus for an official visit last weekend. The Alabama target told Touchdown Alabama he used the visit to learn what the Tide has planned for him if he commits.
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“I’m truly happy that I went on that official visit,” Beverley said. “Blessed for that. All I was talking about was the next step, what I got to do? So, just knowing what they have planned for me, knowing what they have set for me.”
At 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, Beverley makes plays for Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa as a defensive end. Alabama has plans to use him similarly at the next level.
“They’re going to have me at wolf mostly,” Beverley said. “I know coach (Kane) Wommack and coach (Christian) Robinson, I think they see me at other positions, but I know it is guaranteed they’re going to see me at Wolf and me working my way up on special teams, and they expect that out of me.”
Beverley is expected to announce a commitment decision on Friday.
Watch Jeremiah Beverley’s Highlights Below:
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Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
Alabama football is hiring Noah Fisher to be its assistant tight ends coach, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.
Fisher spent two seasons as a graduate assistant working with the offensive line and tight ends at Louisville before joining the Tide’s staff. He played three years on the offensive line at South Alabama and spent one season with Tulane. The Jaguars started Fisher along its offensive line when he was a player for multiple games.
The Crimson Tide appear to want to use their tight ends in multiple ways in the future including as extra blockers along the line of scrimmage. Fisher looks as if he can assist the Tide with this mission.
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Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
