Posted on 04/18/2026 4:00:54 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
The UNC Sheps Center, which tracks rural hospital infrastructure in the United States, has documented 195 rural hospitals that have closed or converted to outpatient facilities since January 2005. Six are in Pennsylvania. Closures have far outpaced the opening of new rural hospitals during this period.
As a physician who has trained in rural communities and a researcher who studies community well-being and public health, we see that every rural hospital closure exerts a domino effect on surrounding communities and residents. This can be difficult to quantify but manifests as lost jobs and economic decline, poorer health and a pervasive sense of fraying community fabric.
Our 2022 study found that when a rural hospital closes, hospitals nearby see a measurable spike in inpatient admissions and emergency room visits that can cause significant financial strain. It’s a phenomenon we called “the bystander effect” of hospital closures.
Closures can sometimes feel random, but they are predictable consequences of the combination of health policy and market forces.
Rural hospitals face a financially difficult task: serve an older, working-class community while staying solvent and being prepared for emergencies at any hour.
The core problem is what economists term “high fixed costs” – for staff, equipment, facilities and administration – that stay relatively stable even when fewer patients walk through the door.
Rural hospitals also tend to rely heavily on Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, which typically pay less than private insurance companies. This leaves a smaller cushion when costs rise...
Maternity care is especially concerning. A national study found 537 hospitals stopped delivering babies between 2010 and 2022, with 238 of them located in rural areas.
An estimated 22 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties – all of them rural – do not have a hospital that provides labor and delivery services...
(Excerpt) Read more at theconversation.com ...
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Our small town hospital has been on life support for a while. I heard last week it probably won’t last 5 more years.
Don’t forget the lack of true benefits.
Oh, the citizen patients don’t pay either.
82% of the patients in my wife’s hospital are on some form of government assistance. And the “non pay” rate would have bankrupted any other business decades ago.
One of the hospital systems they took over five years ago was in the process of writing off half a billion dollars in bad debt. And they never talk about it. It’s astounding that most people have no idea they can just walk away from their hospital bills. Because paying your bill is not the norm these days.
Thats right.
My dad lives in a rural area. The hosptial there is very small and they take care of minor things.
Prayers up that its fate shifts! I have the sense healthcare is going to be THE domestic topic of the moment heading into election season. And rightfully so. The current state of things does not befit the richest country in the world. GOP needs to prioritize it and craft a genuine vision in keeping with both conservative and Christian values.
I trained in a true county hospital, while such things still existed. Yes, there was a double standard of care.
But it was a budget line item, the cost was fixed and known, and we did the best we could with what we had.
In 1986, the amiable dunce signed EMTALA, transferring all free care in the country to every single hospital emergency room. You see the results all around you.
Huge medical centers have profitable cases to lay off the cost. Small hospitals, located where they are most needed, don't - and slowly die.
Look at them, cackling like the hyenas they are:
Amen and Amen.
In Pennsylvania the malpractice insurance to practice medicine is very high due to one reason, Philadelphia Courts giving awards as though they are giving Powerball award winnings.
Attorneys would do whatever they could to get their cases in the Philadelphia Courts.
I’ve helped several hospitals stay open, and sadly, some had to close. It’s the nature of the profession. Economics brings on a sad reality.
Funny thing, the Bishop over many churches in Pennsylvania ask me to be on a committee evaluating churches for closure. Several were huge beautiful structures in cities, with weekly attendance around 40 people when they could seat a thousand. It’s sad, but a part of life.
What you say is very accurate. And the Obama administration paid to recreate a new medical records system when the VA Hospitals already had an excellent system in use that could have been expanded to the country at a fraction of the cost.
Side note.... Peter Theil’s Palantir Technologies owns the medical records system for all of England. They also own the US Covid-19 vaccine database for all of USA. They also work with out CIA, FBI, military and many other countries.
Peter and Elon Musk are good friends as the made their first billions together starting PayPal and selling it to Google.
its about the CEO making MILLIONS of DOLLARS to run a not for profit
We have a hospital in the county that is a destination hospital. People from all around us come here for scans and such. You can have it done locally if you wait 2 months or you can drive here to have it done the next day. Many people choose to drive.
My wife was ordered to have a bone density test and it was scheduled for the next day.
Agree in Los Angeles illegals have caused many trauma centers and hospitals to close nobody pays the bills.
Between illegals, Obummercare, and thieving insurance companies, hospitals are having a rough time. My wife has worked in one for over 25 years and the difference between 25 years ago and now is depressing. Overworked doctors, nurses and the admin. Several here have closed down. A damn shame.
Bump for later read.
A damn shame indeed the slackers robbing from the honest.
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