417 rural hospitals at risk of closure: Chartis

There are 417 rural hospitals that are vulnerable to closure, according to a Feb. 10 report from Chartis, a healthcare advisory services firm. 

Chartis’ Rural Hospital Vulnerability Index assesses more than a dozen indicators to identify which are statistically significant for determining the likelihood of closure.

The number of overall rural hospitals vulnerable is down from 432 last year, but Chartis said there are “notable shifts at the state level.” In Tennessee, the percentage of vulnerable hospitals increased from 44% to 61%. In South Dakota, the percentage increased from 28% to 42%. Mississippi, which Chartis said has long been a “weak spot in the rural health safety net,” saw an improvement from 49% to 42%. Kansas also saw an improvement from 47% to 44%. 

Chartis’ analysis found that 17 states have 10 or more rural hospitals vulnerable to closure this year. Texas has the most with 50, followed by Kansas (44), Tennessee (27), Georgia (25), and Mississippi (24). These states are receiving a combined $1.1 billion in the first round of CMS’ Rural Health Transformation Fund initiative.  

Six states have at least 41% of their rural hospitals that are at risk of closure:

• Tennessee (61%)
• Arkansas (55%)
• Florida (52%)
• Kansas (44%) 
• South Dakota (42%) 
• Mississippi (42%)

Three more states — Alabama, Georgia and Texas — have between 31% and 41% of their rural hospitals at risk of closure. 

Since 2010, there have been 206 rural hospitals that have either closed or converted to models that exclude inpatient care, such as the rural emergency hospital designation, according to the report. Texas has experienced the greatest loss of inpatient care, with 27 closures and conversions, followed by Tennessee (18), Oklahoma (13), Kansas (12), and Mississippi (12).

Read the full report here. 

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