Operating in the Red: Half of Rural Hospitals Lose Money, as Many Cut Services - KFF Health News
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A recent report finds half of America’s rural hospitals are losing money, and many are struggling to stay open. Researchers and advocates worry the hospitals’ financial spiral will have immediate and long-term health effects on their communities.

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A recently released report from the health analytics and consulting firm Chartis paints a clear picture of the grim reality Ryerse and other small-hospital managers face. In its financial analysis, the firm concluded that half of rural hospitals lost money in the past year, up from 43% the previous year. It also identified 418 rural hospitals across the U.S. that are “vulnerable to closure.”

Mark Holmes, director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina, said the report’s findings weren’t a surprise, since the financial nosedive it depicted has been a concern of researchers and rural health advocates for decades.

The report noted that small-town hospitals in states that expanded Medicaid eligibility have fared better financially than those in states that didn’t.

  • @[email protected]English
    7•7 months ago

    Not surprising when it’s a business who’s model is “give me a million dollars for basic, routine procedures, 90% of which goes towards bureaucratic bullshit”