Martin County Commissioners Advance Plans for Treasure Coast Maternity Center
STUART, Fla. - For more than a year, Martin County families have been forced to travel outside the community to deliver their babies. On Tuesday, May 19, the Martin County Board of County Commissioners took a major step toward changing that. The Board agreed to lease county-owned property along SE Tower Drive in Stuart, where the proposed Treasure Coast Maternity Center would be developed, approving a 25-year lease at $1 per year.
The approval marks a major milestone in restoring local maternity care access following the closure of Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital’s labor and delivery unit in 2025, which left Martin County without local hospital-based maternity services.
Healthcare leaders and community advocates described Tuesday’s vote as a defining moment in the effort to restore safe, accessible maternity care close to home for families throughout Martin County and the Treasure Coast.
“No mother should have to worry about whether she’ll make it to the hospital in time,” said Samantha Suffich, CEO of the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition. “This vote represents hope for restoring local maternity care and creating a healthier future for mothers, babies, and families across the Treasure Coast.”
The Board’s approval allows the Treasure Coast Maternity Center initiative to proceed with site planning, feasibility studies, due diligence activities, and continued development of the proposed facility.
“Today is not the last day of the process, it's practically the first day,” said Martin County Commissioner Ed Ciampi. “The real work lies ahead, and it will take all of us coming together to support Healthy Start, to find ways to participate and invest in the future of maternal care right here in Martin County."
The vote came as the Martin County Healthy Start’s MOM Mobile has already demonstrated the need and viability of local maternity services, having served 26 mothers since September and delivering six full-term babies.
The Treasure Coast Maternity Center is envisioned as a 15,000-square-foot, family-centered maternity facility designed to support up to 500 births annually. Beyond labor and delivery services, the center is planned as a coordinated maternal health ecosystem integrating:
- Prenatal care
- Labor and delivery services
- Postpartum care
- Lactation support
- Mental health services
- Fatherhood programming
- Healthy Start Home Visiting
- Nurse-Family Partnership
- Community doula services
- Medicaid navigation
The proposed model is designed specifically for low-risk pregnancies while maintaining strong physician oversight, emergency transfer protocols with EMS, and coordinated relationships with regional healthcare partners for higher-acuity care when necessary.
Healthcare leaders say the initiative reflects a growing national movement toward freestanding maternity centers as a way to improve maternal and infant outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. The organization intends to pursue accreditation through the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers.
According to national data, freestanding maternity centers are associated with:
- 26% lower preterm birth rates
- 20% lower low birth weight rates
- 40% lower cesarean delivery rates
- Lower overall childbirth costs
“Access to maternity care is foundational community infrastructure,” Suffich said. “Communities thrive when families can safely access healthcare locally. Martin County families are still traveling outside the county to deliver their babies. This initiative is about restoring safe, accessible maternity care close to home and ensuring our community does not become a maternity care desert.”
The initiative has already secured $1 million in state appropriations with support from Senator Gayle Harrell and Representative Toby Overdorf and is continuing efforts to secure approximately $8 million in total funding through public, private, philanthropic, and community partnerships.
Supporters emphasized that while Tuesday’s vote marks an important milestone, significant work remains ahead involving fundraising, design, regulatory approvals, planning, and continued community collaboration.
“We are incredibly grateful to the commissioners, healthcare leaders, advocates, and families who stood behind this effort,” Suffich said. “This approval gives us the ability to move forward with due diligence, planning, and continued development of a model that we hope can help address the maternity care crisis facing communities across Florida and the nation.”
The Treasure Coast Maternity Center needs the support of the entire community to become a reality. Individuals, businesses, and organizations interested in contributing to this critical effort are encouraged to contact Martin County Healthy Start Coalition at 772-463-2888 or visit www.mchealthystart.org to learn how they can help bring safe, local maternity care back to Martin County families.
About the Treasure Coast Maternity Center
Treasure Coast Maternity Center, Inc. is a nonprofit maternal healthcare initiative focused on restoring local access to maternity care in Martin County and the surrounding region through a comprehensive, family-centered model emphasizing safe, accessible, and coordinated care. The proposed freestanding maternity center will integrate prenatal care, labor and delivery, postpartum services, mental health support, community partnerships, and family resources designed to improve outcomes for mothers and babies across the Treasure Coast.
About Martin County Healthy Start Coalition
Martin County Healthy Start is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that every baby is born healthy. It provides educational and health services to pregnant women, new mothers and their families at no cost, particularly expectant mothers who are at risk for late or no prenatal care.
Part of a statewide coalition, Healthy Start connects pregnant women and young mothers with essential services including prenatal care, home visitations by a nurse or social worker, breastfeeding support, parenting education, car seat and sleeping safety, a free diaper pantry, and access to other community partner agencies. The David Cardno Fatherhood Initiative, also part of the Martin County Healthy Start Coalition, helps fathers to become more involved in parenting and offers legal assistance to fathers who are separated from their children.
The programs of Martin County Healthy Start Coalition are voluntary and available to all Florida residents at no cost.
For more information about Martin County Healthy Start Coalition and its ongoing programs, visit www.mchealthystart.org, call 772-463-2888 or follow the organization on Facebook.