Hospitals across the nation face a myriad of challenges, including reimbursement cuts and dwindling inpatient volumes. These issues have caused many hospitals to close in recent years.
Below are 21 hospital closures reported in 2016, beginning with the most recent. As of Jan. 1, all of the facilities listed below no longer provided inpatient care. However, some of them still offered outpatient care, imaging, emergency care or primary care.
1. Weimar (Texas) Medical Center abruptly closed Nov. 25. In December, the 38-bed hospital's administrator told The Colorado County Citizenthe hospital would reopen once it regained its financial footing.
2. Wharton, Texas-based Gulf Coast Medical Center closed in November. The financially troubled hospital had significantly scaled back services prior to its closure and was operating as a walk-in emergency center.
3. Nix Community General Hospital in Dilley, Texas, closed Oct. 11. Discharges at the 18-bed hospital were down 47.8 percent in 2015 compared to the year prior, according to American Hospital Directory.
4. Marks, Miss.-based Quitman County Hospital closed in late September. The critical access hospital previously discontinued emergency care services due to financial constraints.
5. Regency Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, closed Aug. 11. The closure affected roughly 152 employees.
6. Ascension Wisconsin, part of St. Louis-based Ascension, closed 30-bed Wheaton Franciscan-Midwest Spine and Orthopedic Hospital and Wisconsin Heart Hospital in Wauwatosa on July 8. Ascension said all services provided at the hospital will be moved to Wheaton Franciscan-Elmbrook Memorial Campus in Brookfield, Wis.
7. Magee, Miss.-based Pioneer Health Services closed Pioneer Community Hospital of Scott in Oneida, Tenn., on July 1. PHS acquired the Oneida hospital in 2013 after the facility's first closure.
8. North Georgia Medical Center in Ellijay closed June 6. The hospital faced financial troubles due to a significant decrease in patient volume and a large increase in charity and indigent care over the past few years.
9. 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.
10. Epic Medial Center in Eufaula, Okla., ceased inpatient services May 24. The facility now operates as an urgent care center.
11. Dallas-based Forest Park Medical Center's campus in Fort Worth, Texas, closed May 24. Arlington-based Texas Health Resources purchased the hospital and reopened it in September under a new name: Texas Health Hospital Clearfork.
12. 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.
13. Colusa (Calif.) Regional Medical Center closed April 22. Hospital officials said they expected the 48-bed hospital's closure to affect about 200 workers.
14. St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia closed March 11. North Philadelphia Health System closed the 146-bed hospital as it consolidated operations to help improve its finances. North Philadelphia Health System filed for bankruptcy Dec. 30.
15. 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.
16. Williamsburg Regional Hospital, a critical access hospital in Kingstree, S.C., shut down in February after severe flooding in October 2015 rendered the majority of the hospital unusable. The facility later resumed some services, including outpatient and primary care. Williamsburg Regional is currently in partnership discussions with Columbia, S.C.-based Palmetto Health.
17. 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.
18. Cleveland Clinic's Lakewood (Ohio) Hospital closed Feb. 5. Cleveland Clinic will replace the facility with a new family health center and emergency department, which are slated to be completed in mid-2018.
19. Southern Palmetto Hospital, a 53-bed hospital in Barnwell, S.C., closed Jan. 21. Hospital officials said the hospital was closing due to a decline in patient volume and an increase in uncompensated care costs.
20. 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.
21. 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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