The birth center at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham, where 700 babies were born last year, will close March 17, a blow to east Multnomah County families and the latest sign of the challenging financial landscape confronting hospital systems as they emerge from the pandemic.

Legacy officials plan to redirect patients, including those in labor, to its Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in North Portland. The two hospitals are nearly 17 miles apart, which on a busy day can take 30 minutes or more by car.