Hospitals across the nation face a myriad of financial challenges, including underpayments from Medicare and Medicaid and new reimbursement cuts.
These financial challenges, combined with other issues such as declining patient volumes, have caused more than 60 rural hospitals to close over the past five years.
Below are 12 hospitals closures reported so far this year.
1. North Georgia Medical Center in Ellijay closed June 6. A nearby hospital owned by Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare plans to reopen the facility's emergency department.
2. Saddleback Memorial – San Clemente (Calif.) hospital closed May 30. The primary reason for the closure was dwindling patient volumes. On many days, there were less than 10 inpatients at the 73-bed hospital.
3. Dallas-based Forest Park Medical Center's campus in Fort Worth, Texas, closed May 24. Arlington-based Texas Health Resources purchased the hospital and plans to reopen it.
4.McNairy Regional Hospital in Selmer, Tenn., part of Knoxville, Tenn.-based Tennova Healthcare, closed May 18. The hospital's admissions had dropped nearly 70 percent between 2010 and 2015, and ER visits had also plummeted.
5. Colusa (Calif.) Regional Medical Center closed April 22. Hospital officials said they expected the 48-bed hospital's closure to affect about 200 workers.
6. St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia closed March 11. North Philadelphia Health System closed the 146-bed hospital as it consolidated operations.
7. SoutheastHEALTH in Cape Girardeau, Mo., closed Southeast Health Center of Reynolds County and its related clinics March 11. Before it closed, fewer than two beds on average were filled at the hospital each day.
8. Williamsburg Regional Hospital in Kingstree, S.C., shut down in February after severe flooding last October rendered the majority of the hospital unusable. A temporary replacement hospital will open in October.
9. Sayre (Okla.) Memorial Hospital abruptly closed Feb. 1. Officials said the closure was due to a number of factors, including Oklahoma's decision not to expand Medicaid.
10. Cleveland Clinic's 108-year-old Lakewood (Ohio) Hospital closed Feb. 5. The system has plans to replace the facility with a family healthcare clinic.
11. St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare closed 126-bed Parkland Health Center – Weber Road in Farmington, Mo., Jan. 19. Most clinical services were relocated to another Parkland Health hospital in Farmington.
12. St. Mary's Hospital in Streator, Ill., closed Jan. 4. The facility is now an urgent care center owned and operated by Peoria, Ill.-based OSF Healthcare System.
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