Hundreds of hospitals in the U.S. are on the ropes financially, largely due not to fiscal mismanagement but inadequate reimbursements, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Many of them are rural hospitals whose closures don't usually make the headlines, but that doesn't mean they're expendable. Rural communities supply most of the country's food and energy. If those communities can't access healthcare, it could mean power outages and empty pantries nationwide, even in big cities.
The University of North Carolina's Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research in Chapel Hill compiled a list of rural hospital closures since 2005, including the 25 rural hospital closures since January 2020.
They are listed below by state, followed by month and year of closure:
Florida
Shands Lake Shore Regional Medical Center (Lake City); closed August 2020
Shands Live Oak Regional Medical Center (Live Oak); closed April 2020
Shands Starke Regional Medical Center (Starke); closed Aril 2020
Georgia
Northridge Medical Center (Commerce); closed October 2020
Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center (Cuthbert); closed October 2020
Illinois
Galesburg Cottage Hospital; closed January 2022
Iowa
Blessing Health Keokuk; closed September 2022
Kansas
Community HealthCare System - St. Marys; closed June 2021
St. Luke's Cushing Hospital (Leavenworth); closed July 2020
Sumner Community Hospital (Wellington); closed March 2020
Maryland
Edward W. McCready Memorial Hospital (Crisfield); closed March 2020
Minnesota
Mayo Clinic Health System - Springfield; closed March 2020
Missouri
Pinnacle Regional Hospital (Boonville); closed January 2020
Callaway Community Hospital (Fulton); closed March 2022
Audrain Community Hospital (Mexico); closed March 2022
Nebraska
MercyOne Oakland Medical Center; closed July 2021
Pennsylvania
UPMC Susquehanna Sunbury (Sunbury); closed January 2020
Tennessee
Jellico Medical Center; closed November 2020
Perry Community Hospital (Linden); closed August 2020
Cumberland River Hospital (Celina); closed November 2020
Decatur County General Hospital (Parsons); closed April 2020
Texas
Central Hospital of Bowie; closed February 2020
Virginia
Mountain View Regional Hospital (Norton); closed January 2020
West Virginia
Bluefield Regional Medical Center; closed July 2020
Williamson Memorial Hospital; closed April 2020