More than 700 rural hospitals across the United States are at risk of closure, according to the latest analysis from the Chartis Center for Rural Health. Since 2010, over 140 have already shuttered, most in Southern and Midwestern states where Medicaid expansion was delayed or rejected. The remaining facilities face shrinking reimbursement rates, nursing shortages, and aging infrastructure that was built for patient volumes that no longer exist.
The downstream effects reach beyond healthcare. When a hospital closes in a small town, it takes with it one of the largest local employers, accelerates population decline, and strips the community of the emergency infrastructure that attracts new residents and businesses.
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