There are 432 rural hospitals vulnerable to closure, according to a Feb. 11 report from Chartis, a healthcare advisory services firm.
Chartis analyzed 15 vulnerability indicators and found that 10 were statistically significant in predicting hospital closures, including: Medicaid expansion status, average length of stay, occupancy, percentage change in net patient revenue and years of negative operating margin.
Of the 48 states with rural hospitals, 38 have at least one at risk of closure, according to the report. The states with the highest number of vulnerable hospitals are:
1. Texas: 47
2. Kansas: 46
3. Mississippi: 28
4. Oklahoma: 23
5. Georgia: 22
Arkansas (50%) has the highest percentage of rural hospitals at risk of closure, followed by Mississippi (47%) and Kansas (47%).
The percentage of rural hospitals at risk of closure by state is as follows:
More than 41% of hospitals
Arkansas
Florida
Kansas
Mississippi
Tennessee
31% to 40%
Georgia
Missouri
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Texas
26%-30%
Alabama
North Carolina
South Dakota
21%-25%
Illinois
Louisiana
Maryland
Nebraska
New Mexico
Wyoming
16%-20%
Kentucky
Ohio
10%-15%
California
Indiana
Michigan
Minnesota
Montana
New York
Pennsylvania
Virginia
West Virginia
1%-9%
Arizona
Colorado
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
North Dakota
Utah
Wisconsin
0%
Alaska
Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Massachusetts
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
Oregon
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington