Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Closures of healthcare facilities and services

The Association of a Rural Hospital Closure with 30-Day Post Hospital Discharge Mortality from Selected Conditions
Poster presentation describing a 60-month-long study using data from the all-payer claims database from rural counties in one Southeastern state. Includes statistics for pre-closure characteristics of 3,029 study participants, with breakdowns by diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, sepsis, and trauma.
Author(s): Melinda A. Merrell, Janice Probst, Kevin Bennett, Bankole Olatosi, Jeffrey Hall
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
view details
Trends in Risk of Financial Distress among Rural Hospitals from 2015 to 2019
Details the proportion of rural hospitals, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), at high risk of financial distress by Census region and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement type from 2015 to 2019.
Author(s): Sharita R. Thomas, George H. Pink, Kristin Reiter
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
Characteristics of Communities Served by Rural Hospitals Predicted to be at High Risk of Financial Distress in 2019
Uses updated results from the Financial Distress Index to compare communities that are home to rural hospitals at high financial risk with areas having rural hospitals not at high risk. Features statistics including demographics, socioeconomics, and health status, with breakdowns by location in the South, the Midwest, the Northeast, and the West.
Author(s): Sharita R. Thomas, George H. Pink, Kristin Reiter
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
Geographic Variation in the 2019 Risk of Financial Distress among Rural Hospitals
Uses updated results from the Financial Distress Index to show geographic variation in rural hospitals at risk of financial distress and possible closure or reduction of services. Features statistics showing percentage of rural hospitals in each risk category in 2019 by census region, and a state-level map showing the number and percentage of rural hospitals at high risk.
Author(s): Sharita R. Thomas, George H. Pink, Kristin Reiter
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Hospital Inpatient and Outpatient Services: Chapter 3
Examines the adequacy of Medicare payments to hospitals in 2017 and offers recommendations for changes. Includes a discussion of rural hospital closures and provides rural/urban breakdowns for hospital occupancy rates, Medicare inpatient discharges, and Medicare margins.
Date: 03/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Meeting Needs in Rural Health: Research, Action, Policy
Provides slides from a presentation at the 2019 American Hospital Association Rural Health Care Leadership Conference. Focuses on rural Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), what happens after hospital closures, and opportunities for advancing rural health based on recommendations from RUPRI Health Panel. Includes maps showing non-metropolitan county locations of ACOs over time.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Date: 02/2019
Type: Presentation Slides
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
view details
Addressing Rural Workforce Shortages and Healthcare Disparities: An Annotated Bibliography
Report designed to inform policy discussions and future publications concerning healthcare disparities and outcomes, the distribution of physicians in rural areas, and the graduate medical education system financing. Also includes sections on rural hospital closures, social determinants of health, and healthcare safety net facilities. Constructed from a literature review, expert-recommended articles, and a search of white and grey literature.
Author(s): Dara Khatib, Alison Huffstetler, Andrew Bazemore
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Robert Graham Center
view details
Do Hospital Closures Affect Patient Time in an Ambulance?
Examines the impact of hospital closures on patient travel time to an emergency department (ED) by ambulance. Uses national data on hospital closures and hospital-based ambulance services and compares rural/urban differences.
Author(s): SuZanne Troske, Alison Davis
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
view details
Rural Hospital Sustainability: New Data Show Worsening Situation for Rural Hospitals, Residents
Reports on an analysis of rural hospital financial viability. Identifies the number of hospitals by state at financial risk of closing and the number by state at high financial risk that are considered essential for community trauma access. Discusses factors affecting rural hospitals' finances and offers recommendations for policymakers and regional/academic partnerships.
Author(s): David Mosley, Daniel DeBehnke
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Navigant
view details
Rural Hospital Closures and the Fifth District
Discusses reasons for rural hospital closures as well as the resulting consequences on communities, including decreased healthcare access, loss of jobs, and more. Emphasizes hospital closures in the Fifth Federal Reserve District and provides recommendations to policymakers and government leaders.
Author(s): Emily Wavering Corcoran, Sonya Ravindranath Waddell
Date: 2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
view details