Ruston (La.) Regional Specialty Hospital has shared plans to close at midnight on Jan. 31.
Ruston Regional is a long-term acute care hospital owned and operated by Priority Hospital Group.
The closure decision cited evolving Medicare rules, rising operational costs and declining patient volumes, according to a Dec. 16 employee announcement from Mark Rice, CEO of Priority Hospital Group, and shared with Becker's.
"It is unfortunate, but Ruston Regional has no option but to close," Mr. Rice said. "There simply are not enough patients. The realities of the U.S. health care system cannot be denied. Too many hospitals in small and rural markets are on the cusp of survival; most particularly, specialty hospitals in small markets such as Ruston where there are no major medical centers to serve as referring facilities "
Mr. Rice said changes to Medicare Admission rules, like requiring patients to spend three midnights in critical care units, for the disqualification of many patients, particularly those with certain types of diagnoses like severe wounds.
"[W]e at Ruston Regional did everything possible to mitigate the rule and keep the hospital open," he said. "Congress is attempting to address this problem through proposed legislation intended to restore patient eligibility for LTCHs. However, the harsh reality is that patients with certain types of diagnoses lost access to valuable LTCH services."
He also said the outward mitigation of patients to bigger Louisiana cities like Monroe and Shreveport has also led to struggles at the hospital. Once patients leave Ruston, it's difficult to identify and bring them back to receive post-acute and rehabilitation care.
Lastly, Mr. Rice noted an increase in expenses across the board along with people's income not keeping up with inflation.
"[T]he hospital just cannot achieve the level of financial performance required to sustain operations," he said. "The Ruston market is too small to support a specialty hospital like Ruston Regional under current healthcare realities and local market dynamics."