Declining inpatient volumes and cuts to Medicare and Medicaid payments are some of the factors driving rural hospitals out of business, according to the report. Twenty-four rural hospitals across the country have closed since the beginning of 2013, according to a Reuters graphic. For instance, Good Shepherd Medical Center Linden (Texas) shut down earlier this year. Good Shepherd Health System, based on Longview, Texas, decided to close the critical access hospital after it racked up more than $12 million in operating losses in the nine years after Good Shepherd Health acquired it. The losses stemmed from reimbursement cuts and low patient utilization, which dropped to fewer than five per day.
“Revenues are coming down and expenses are not coming down as quickly,” George Huang, municipal securities research director at Wells Fargo Securities, told Business Insider. Therefore, Mr. Huang said rural hospitals have fewer resources to help them stay afloat.
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