Report: Rural Hospitals Continue to be at Risk

A new report from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform says that rural hospitals in Arkansas and Missouri are at risk of shutting down including several classified as at immediate risk. 

The findings are part of a national study examining the financial stability of rural hospitals across the U.S. The primary drivers of the crisis, according to the report, are losses on patient services, insufficient alternative revenue sources, and critically low financial reserves.

Nationwide, over 700 rural hospitals, about one-third of all rural hospitals in the country. In Arkansas, 30 of 47 rural hospitals are at risk of shutting down, with 11 classified as being at immediate risk while in Missouri, the numbers are 25 of 58 rural hospitals at risk with 10 being at immediate risk.

The full report from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform can be found through this link.