After receiving federal funding, a remote Wyoming community is bucking closure trends throughout the rural U.S. and building its own hospital. It’s not the only one.
What changed so that hospitals are closing in the first place?
Rural hospitals aren’t as profitable, so privately held hospitals have been closing so the company can invest money where they make more money per dollar spent.
That’s usually the answer, but it also begs the question why aren’t they as profitable as they used to be?
Some might be as profitable/unpredictable as they used to be, but urban/suburban areas are still much more profitable areas for hospitals to operate.
The reality of rural areas is that by their nature there just aren’t as many people there
Yeah i came up with a few possible explanations:
- Corporate strategic decision to cut less profitable hospitals.
- Reduced population from people moving to the cities.
- Changes in billing or insurance that reduce profitability.
Or some combination of these.
