Government schools are an abomination in and of themselves - the kidnapping of citizens for forced indoctrination into the ideology du jour.
Their providing food to the victims only allowed statists to gain a greater foothold into the victims' lives. This was concomitant with the growing notion of the nanny states' being in charge of citizens' most basic needs; this led to the state defining the needs. A few of these being the "need" to stop smoking, the "need" to aspire to anorexic thinness, the "need" to conform to the latest standard of fitness.
This forcing of people into bureaucratic standards of perfection leads to defining the resistors as dysfunctional and in need of "mental health" professionals. (More jobs.)
In our little rural town the hospital is a significant source of employment and revenue and a draw for older citizens
How is this at all relevant? Because a nanny-state inspired "health care system" provides jobs, it should survive forever? Whatever happened to all those buggy-whip manufacturers? Are they terribly missed?
Buggy whip manufacturers were terribly missed by those who lost their jobs. Saying that's not important is the same as saying that peoples' lives have no meaning.
We're powerless to alleviate a lot of human suffering but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do what we can. I don't lightly dismiss the suffering I'll cause if I recommend the closing of a hospital. That you do does not speak well of you.