From declining inpatient volumes to reimbursement challenges and increased demand for outpatient care, various factors lead hospitals to shut down or enter bankruptcy.
Here are 19 hospitals that filed for bankruptcy, closed or announced plans to close in the past year:
1. Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Health will end inpatient and emergency care at its 226-bed hospital in Hammond, Ind., by the end of 2022 because of low patient volumes. Last year, the system announced plans to scale down the hospital to a 10-bed inpatient unit and emergency department, but the new plan announced Nov. 3 will end inpatient and emergency care completely. The date inpatient admissions and services will end was not specified.
2. Kansas City, Mo.-based Saint Luke's Health System plans to close two of its five community hospitals in an effort to streamline services. The two microhospital locations affected are the Saint Luke's Community Hospitals in Olathe and Shawnee, Kan. Emergency rooms there will stay open until Dec. 23, but inpatient services will close sooner, the health system said.
3. St. Louis-based Ascension is closing Ascension St. Vincent Dunn, a critical access hospital in Bedford, Ind., Dec. 16. Seventy-seven employees will be laid off as a result of the closure, according to the health system, which said affected employees who do not secure another position within Ascension will be offered severance and outplacement services.
4. Cleveland-based St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, which is transitioning into an outpatient services provider, ended inpatient and emergency room care Nov. 11. Declining inpatient volumes, increased demand for outpatient care and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were primary factors driving the decision, the hospital said.
5. Hollister, Calif.-based Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, on Nov. 4 was granted a resolution to declare a fiscal emergency. that gives administrators the authority to file a Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition. The decision paves the way for the hospital to file the petition by Dec. 31. No cuts to services or staff are expected in the near term.
6. Marietta, Ga.-based Wellstar Health System ended operations at the downtown Atlanta Medical Center on Nov. 1. In an Aug. 31 statement announcing closure plans, Wellstar said it invested more than $350 million in capital improvements and to support sustained operating losses at the hospital, including a loss of $107 million in the last year. It pointed to decreasing revenue and increasing costs for staff and supplies, worsened by inflation.
7. El Segundo, Calif.-based Pipeline Health System, which includes seven hospitals in three states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 2. The health system aims to complete the sale of two Illinois hospitals — Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Ill. — to Resilience Healthcare, and will try to find a new buyer if the deal collapses.
8. Berwick (Pa.) Hospital Center filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sept. 30. The move came less than two weeks after the abrupt closure of the hospital's emergency department due to lack of staffing. Its affiliated clinics closed in July.
9. Quincy, Ill.-based Blessing Health System closed its hospital in Keokuk, Iowa, Sept. 30. The decision to close the hospital was driven by several factors, including financial challenges and low demand for inpatient care, according to the health system.
10. Borrego Community Health Foundation in Borrego Springs, Calif., on Sept. 12 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but said it will keep its clinics open. Borrego said it is working to resolve state and federal investigations during the bankruptcy.
11. Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems closed ShorePoint Health Venice (Fla.), a 312-bed hospital, in September. Officials cited several reasons for the closure, including a decline in inpatient volume and rising expenses.
12. Santa Cruz Valley Regional Medical Center in Green Valley, Ariz., closed June 30. The hospital's CEO said the decision was made after the hospital was unable to secure emergency department staffing for the Fourth of July weekend.
13. In late May, Patients' Hospital of Redding (Calif.) closed after 30 years. The hospital's owner said there wasn't enough inpatient volume to keep the facility open.
14. Wellstar Health System closed Atlanta Medical Center South in May. The system converted the facility into a 24-hour outpatient site. Low patient volume for emergency services at Atlanta Medical Center South was one reason given for the change.
15. Cleveland (Texas) Emergency Hospital shut down in April and all of its services were consolidated to Texas Emergency Hospital in Cleveland. Emergency Hospitals Systems' CEO Michael Adkins said ending services at Cleveland Emergency Hospital was a strategic move that would allow the system to provide better healthcare to the community.
16-17. In late March, Audrain Community Hospital in Mexico, Mo., and Callaway Community Hospital in Fulton, Mo., shut down. Kansas City, Mo.-based Noble Health, the hospitals' owner, initially attributed the closures to a technology issue and the need to restructure operations to become financially viable. Kaiser Health News later reported that the hospitals stopped paying their bills and care quality diminished after Noble Health took them over.
18. West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health closed Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville, Pa., on Jan. 31. The system also shut down Jennersville Hospital in West Grove, Pa., in December.
19. Galesburg (Ill.) Cottage Hospital closed Jan. 8. The hospital's owner attributed the decision to abruptly close the facility to CMS' decision to terminate the facility's Medicare contract.