Tribune ? A small western Kansas hospital says it is suspending obstetrics services to residents in the region.

Greeley County Health Services recently announced it would temporarily stop inpatient obstetrical services beginning Jan. 31.

Bill Hartley, interim hospital administrator, says the decision was caused by the increasing costs of medical malpractice for obstetrics, and a lack of doctors and a full-time anesthetist at the hospital in Tribune, 16 miles from the Colorado border.

The Hutchinson News reports that Tribune has been a thriving medical hub for a large region of southwest Kansas. But the hospital currently has only two doctors, and Hartley says they and the staff were stretched too thin to provide obstetrics.

Hospital officials say they hope to offer the services again in the near future.