Nearly one in five Americans live in rural areas and depend on their local hospital for care. Since 2005, 171 of those hospitals have closed, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.

Seven large Michigan health systems have received more than $850 million in federal aid for treating a large number of COVID-19 patients, according to NPR affiliate Michigan Radio. But that aid falls short of what is needed to remain unscathed, according to the health systems.

House Democrats passed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan July 1 that would provide funding to upgrade hospitals, according to The Hill. 

The following six hospital and health system credit rating downgrades occurred since June 1. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

To address the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across the nation are looking to cut costs by implementing furloughs, layoffs or pay cuts. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has made financial planning a laborious challenge for health system CFOs and administrators.

Long-term participation in Medicare bundled payment initiatives generated some savings for hospitals, but little change in mortality outcomes, according to a study published in the BMJ.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's proclamation June 30 suspending elective surgeries at hospitals in several counties is credit negative for for-profit hospital companies, according to Moody's Investors Service. 

Kansas City, Mo.-based Saint Luke's Health System will close its hospital in Leavenworth, Kan., on Oct. 1.

Trinity Health, a 92-hospital system based in Livonia, Mich., will lay off and reduce work schedules of 1,000 employees, according to the Detroit Free Press, citing a memo to employees from President and CEO Mike Slubowski.

HHS is making progress on reducing the backlog of Medicare appeals at the administrative law judge level, according to a recent status report.

Below are 10 hospitals and health systems that recently posted job listings seeking CFOs.

Hospital closures and financial results for the first quarter of this year were among the healthcare finance topics that piqued the interest of readers in June. 

Hospitals will lose $323.1 billion this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the American Hospital Association. 

Trinity Health's operations and finances were significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic during the last half of March, and the negative effects are continuing in the current quarter, the Livonia, Mich.-based health system said in bondholder documents filed June 29. 

Of the 33 states that have seen at least one rural hospital close since 2010, those with the most closures are in the South, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.

Below are five hospitals and health systems that posted job listings seeking revenue cycle leaders during the past few weeks.

Brentwood, Tenn.-based Quorum Health has a path to exit bankruptcy after a Delaware judge approved the company's $1.3 billion restructuring plan June 29, according to Law360. 

The American Hospital Association has filed an appeal in a lawsuit challenging a rule that requires hospitals to disclose rates they negotiate with insurers beginning in 2021. 

HHS is working to distribute the billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funding earmarked for providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that was signed into law in late March.