Almost a quarter of U.S. rural hospitals are near insolvency, according to an article on the Modern Healthcare website.
Twenty-one percent of rural hospitals are at high risk of closing, according to Navigant's analysis of CMS data on 2,045 rural hospitals. That translates to 430 hospitals in 43 states that employ about 150,000 people.
Hospitals are often the economic drivers of rural communities. But as rural populations decline, inpatient admissions fall.
Half of Alabama's rural hospitals are in trouble, the highest percentage in the country. At least 36 percent of the hospitals in Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Maine and Mississippi are also in jeopardy, according to the report.
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