Rural hospitals have long struggled to stay afloat, serving populations that are older, less healthy and less affluent than those of their urban counterparts. Nearly 130 rural hospitals across the nation have shut their doors since 2010, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports.
But now, the sector is facing another wave of closings under additional financial pressures, some caused by the pandemic that has strained resources.
Fourteen of Indiana’s 54 rural hospitals are at immediate risk of closing because of continuing financial losses and lack of financial reserves to sustain operations, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Nationally, more than 500 rural hospitals—or more than one-fourth of the rural hospitals in the country—are at immediate risk of closing, the study said. Read more.
