Rural Hospitals Increasingly at Risk of Closure

The number of rural hospitals in danger of closing is increasing, placing greater stress on the health of those communities.Loss of access to care, combined with the decline in rural population health and growing "care deserts," is creating an unstable ground for rural hospitals to operate on, according to a report by Chartis.The study found that 46% of rural hospitals are in the red, while 432 facilities are at risk of closure. In comparison, the advisory firm's research from a year ago reported that 50% of rural hospitals were losing money and 418 locations were teetering on closing.Rural hospitals are more susceptible to policies like reimbursement cuts, the study noted. According to the research, the 2% cut in Medicare reimbursement under sequestration will cost rural hospitals more than $509 million this year and result in over 8,000 jobs lost.