Rural Hospital Closures

Link	View Research Recap
Date	12/2017
Description	From January 2005 through early November 2017, 124 rural hospitals closed in the U.S. This Recap, one of two, provides a summary of the Rural Health Research Centers' most recent research on hospital closures.
Topics	Hospitals and clinics, Public health

Rural Health Research Products Included in this Recap

• The 21st Century Rural Hospital: A Chart Book
  Chartbook
  North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Date: 03/2015
  This chartbook presents a broad profile of rural hospitals and includes information on location, who they serve, services they provide, how they ensure outpatient services for their communities, other community benefits they provide, and financial performance. Each page includes charts comparing rural hospitals to each other and to urban hospitals.
• Closure of Hospital Obstetric Services Disproportionately Affects Less-Populated Counties
  Policy Brief
  University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 04/2017
  This policy brief describes the scope of obstetric unit and hospital closures resulting in loss of obstetric services in rural U.S. counties from 2004 to 2014.
• Geographic Variation in Risk of Financial Distress Among Rural Hospitals
  Policy Brief
  North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Date: 01/2016
  From 2005 to 2015, 112 rural hospital closures have been identified. The closures impact millions of rural residents. This brief describes the geographic variation in the proportion of rural hospitals forecasted to be at high risk of distress in 2015.
• Geographic Variation in the Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals
  Policy Brief
  North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Date: 03/2016
  Historic and recent evidence suggest that unprofitability can reduce hospital services and quality, or worse, lead to closure. This study describes the current geographic variability of hospital profitability by comparing the 2014 profitability of CAHs, other rural hospitals, and urban hospitals by census region, census division, and state.
• Prediction of Financial Distress Among Rural Hospitals
  Policy Brief
  North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Date: 01/2016
  From 2005 to 2015, more than 100 rural hospitals have closed their doors to patients in need of inpatient services. To understand factors affecting rural hospital financial distress and to develop an early warning system to identify hospitals at risk, the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program developed the Financial Distress Index.
• Trends in Risk of Financial Distress Among Rural Hospitals
  Policy Brief
  North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Date: 10/2016
  From January 2005 to July 2016, 118 rural hospitals have closed permanently, and the rate of rural hospital closures is increasing. Hospital closures impact millions of rural residents. Identifying hospitals at high risk of closure and assessing the trends over time may inform strategies to prevent or mitigate the effects of closures.