From reimbursement landscape challenges to dwindling patient volumes, many factors lead hospitals to shut down. In recent months, financial damage linked to the COVID-19 pandemic has put many hospitals in a fragile financial position and forced a few to close.
Below are eight hospitals that have closed since April 1, beginning with the most recent.
1. Shands Lake Shore Regional Medical Center in Lake City, Fla, closed Aug. 31. The hospital, owned by the Lake Shore Hospital Authority, announced in July that it was closing. The hospital said it had to borrow money to maintain operations, and declining patient volume and financial challenges resulted in losses that were unsustainable.
2. Cumberland River Hospital in Celina, Tenn., closed Aug. 7 and placed its license on inactive status. In a letter to the state health department, the hospital's owner and CEO cited several reasons for the closure, including severe staffing shortages and the inability to secure financial funding or grants from the state.
3. Bluefield (W.Va.) Regional Medical Center closed July 30. Officials said the decision to shut down the hospital was based on several factors, including declining patient volume and reimbursement rates and significant financial damage tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. First Texas Hospital Cy-Fair, a 50-bed hospital in Houston, closed July 26, less than four years after opening. Irving, Texas-based Adeptus Health opened First Texas Hospital Cy-Fair in 2016. When the hospital shut down, 62 workers were laid off, according to the Houston Chronicle, which cited a federally required notice filed in late May.
5. Bon Secours Mercy Health closed Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital in Ashland, Ky., on April 30. The 214-bed hospital was originally slated to shut down in September of this year, but the timeline was moved up after employees began accepting new jobs or tendering resignations. Bon Secours cited local competition as one reason for the hospital closure. Despite efforts to help sustain hospital operations, Bon Secours was unable to "effectively operate in an environment that has multiple acute care facilities competing for the same patients, providers and services," the health system said.
6. Williamson (W.Va.) Hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October and was operating on thin margins for months before shutting down on April 21. The 76-bed hospital said a drop in patient volume due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to close. CEO Gene Preston said the decline in patient volume was "too sudden and severe" for the hospital to sustain operations.
7. Parsons, Tenn.-based Decatur County General Hospital closed April 15, a few weeks after the local hospital board voted to shut it down. Decatur County Mayor Mike Creasy said the closure was attributable to a few factors, including rising costs, Tennessee's lack of Medicaid expansion and broader financial challenges facing the rural healthcare system in the U.S.
8. Pinnacle Regional Hospital in Boonville, Mo., formerly known as Cooper County Memorial Hospital, abruptly closed in January. It entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy about a month after it shut down.