From reimbursement landscape challenges to dwindling patient volumes, many factors lead hospitals to shut down or enter bankruptcy.
Below are 12 hospitals that filed for bankruptcy, closed or announced plans to close in the past year.
- West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health plans to close two hospitals by the end of January. The West Reading, Pa.-based system will close Jennersville Hospital in West Grove, Pa., on Dec. 31 and Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville, Pa., on Jan. 31. The closures will result in the loss of more than 800 jobs.
- Watsonville (Calif.) Community Hospital and its parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Dec. 5. At that time, the 106-bed hospital had between $10 million and $50 million in assets and liabilities within the same range. Documents filed in the case detail the goals of the bankruptcy filing, including keeping the hospital open, saving about 650 jobs and selling the hospital to a buyer that can support the healthcare needs of the community.
- MercyOne Oakland (Neb.) Medical Center closed July 1 after years of declining inpatient and emergency department volumes. While inpatient and emergency services ended, clinics at MercyOne Oakland and its affiliate, Lyons (Neb.) Family Medicine, remain open.
- Community HealthCare System-St. Marys (Kan.) closed in June, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. The Sheps Center defines a hospital closure as the cessation in the provision of inpatient services. The hospital's clinic remains open, and physical, occupational and speech therapy, X-ray, laboratory and other services are available.
- Heights Hospital in Houston filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June. At that time, the hospital had assets of $100 million to $500 million and liabilities ranging from $10 million to $50 million. The bankruptcy came after the hospital abruptly closed and locked out staff in January. Heights Hospital was once an acute care hospital but more recently provided outpatient and specialty care.
- Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tulsa (Okla.) closed in May. The hospital attributed the closure to patient access pressures and insurance limitations in the local market. About 400 employees were affected by the closure.
- Olympia Medical Center, a 204-bed hospital in Los Angeles, closed March 31. Irvine, Calif.-based Alecto Healthcare Services, a private company, sold the hospital in January to UCLA Health.
- Jellico (Tenn.) Medical Center closed March 1, days after the city council voted to send a contract termination notice to the hospital's operator, Rennova Health. Rennova management said the city council's contract termination decision left the company with no option but to close the hospital.
- Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February. In a news release announcing the bankruptcy, the hospital's owner, Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, said Mercy staff departures and mounting financial losses were challenging its ability to provide safe patient care. The hospital was set to close before nonprofit organization Insight Chicago acquired the facility in May.
- Kansas City, Mo.-based Saint Luke's Health System closed two community hospitals in Overland Park, Kan., on Dec. 30, 2020. Both facilities were named Saint Luke's Community Hospital. "Two of our locations have seen lower patient volumes since opening, and as we look at ways to provide care while operating as efficiently as possible during this challenging time, we have made the decision to close these two locations," Bobby Olm-Shipman, Saint Luke's South and East Region CEO, said while announcing the closure of the locations in October.