Rural Communities Feel Residual Impacts After Hospitals Close

Rural Communities Feel Residual Impacts After Hospitals Close

The Huffington Post details the residual effects of hospital closures on rural communities in Georgia and analyzes the vulnerability of hospitals throughout all of the United States.

Since 2010, 82 rural hospitals have closed, 28 of which are Critical Access Hospitals. Rural hospital closures have been concentrated in the South, in particular in Medicaid non-expansion states. Rural areas have higher percentages of low-income and uninsured persons, leading rural hospitals to take on greater amounts of “bad debt.” That’s why some rural hospitals are being creative in cost-saving measures. In Cook County Georgia, Cook Medical Center is getting a new facility, one catch, it won’t have an emergency room.