When Katie Chubb tried to open a new birthing center in Augusta, Georgia, nearly three years ago, she hit an unexpected roadblock.
The problem had nothing to do with the trained nurses and physicians that Chubb planned to employ at her Augusta Birth Center. It wasn't that she couldn't find potential patients. And it wasn't—as is sometimes the case—that the state of Georgia said there was no "need" for her services. In fact, the Georgia Department of Community Health, which has authority over those decisions in the state, ruled in December 2021 that her clinic would "enhance the delivery of health services by offering a low cost, high quality alternative for perinatal health care service."
