Rural hospitals have been getting shut down for years now due to it not being a great money maker, it’s the same reason rural Americans wouldn’t have to their door mail access without it being included in the Constitution.
Even without taking population density into account, access is only going to get worse when hospitals keep shuttering.
Honestly “modern healthcare” was pushing it for a lot of them even when they were open, due to decades of cuts and lack of investment. The (now closed) hospital that was in the rural community I grew up in had a reputation for being a place you went if you had no other choice, or it was a very minor emergency even they couldn’t fuck up. My parents floored it to the nearest city (40 minute drive) every time my mom went into labor, despite the local hospital being maybe 15 minutes away max if you drove the speed limit.
Italy’s population density is twice that of the US.
Rural hospitals have been getting shut down for years now due to it not being a great money maker, it’s the same reason rural Americans wouldn’t have to their door mail access without it being included in the Constitution.
Even without taking population density into account, access is only going to get worse when hospitals keep shuttering.
It’s not a matter of low profit, it’s a matter of loss. Modern healthcare is too expensive to serve small populations.
And like the USPS, one more reason healthcare should be government funded, to serve those who can’t profitably be served.
Honestly “modern healthcare” was pushing it for a lot of them even when they were open, due to decades of cuts and lack of investment. The (now closed) hospital that was in the rural community I grew up in had a reputation for being a place you went if you had no other choice, or it was a very minor emergency even they couldn’t fuck up. My parents floored it to the nearest city (40 minute drive) every time my mom went into labor, despite the local hospital being maybe 15 minutes away max if you drove the speed limit.