When a rural hospital closes, it usually closes for good — no matter what the owners say about their hope to reopen. Small towns are often fighting a losing battle against far more powerful economic forces, WPLN reports.
Haywood County Community Hospital bucked that trend by renovating with plans for a reopening.
Braden Health acquired Haywood from the local government in 2020 with only a symbolic payment and a commitment to invest in the facility to run it as a hospital. Braden also has three other hospitals between Nashville and Memphis, all taken over since 2020. They include the shuttered Decatur County General Hospital, which is in equally rough shape.
Haywood has proven more challenging than expected. The hospital was supposed to open in January. Read more.
