By Alan Condon of Becker Hosptial Review
Tennessee's Jellico Regional Hospital, a 25-bed critical access facility, closed March 9, making it the 36th rural hospital to shutter or no longer provide inpatient services since 2020, according to data compiled by the University of North Carolina's Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
The closures highlight the heightened financial challenges that rural hospitals face amid persisting workforce shortages, rising costs and leveling reimbursement. In addition, only 45% of rural hospitals now offer labor and delivery services, and in 10 states, less than 33% do, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Below are the 36 rural hospitals that closed since 2020, beginning with the most recent.
Editor's note: Facilities with an asterisk (*) signify converted closures (facilities that no longer provide inpatient services, but continue to provide some services, such as primary care, skilled nursing care or long-term care).
- Jellico (Tenn.) Regional Hospital
- St. Mark's Medical Center (La Grange, Texas)
- Herington (Kan.) Hospital
- Spectrum Health Kelsey Hospital (Lakeview, Mich.)
- Indiana University Health Blackford Hospital (Hartford City, Ind.)*
- Martin General Hospital (Williamston, N.C.)
- Patients Choice Medical Center of Smith County (Raleigh, Miss.)
- St. Margaret's Health-Spring Valley (Ill.)
- UPMC Lock Haven (Pa.)*
- St. Margaret's Health-Peru (Ill.) (OSF Healthcare expected to reopen the hospital this spring)
- Ascension St. Vincent Dunn (Bedford, Ind.)
- Blessing Health Keokuk (Iowa)
- Audrain Community Hospital (Mexico, Mo.)
- Callaway Community Hospital (Fulton, Mo.)
- Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Service Unit (Acoma, N.M.)*
- Galesburg (Ill.) Cottage Hospital*
- MercyOne Oakland Medical Center (Oakland, Neb.)*
- Community HealthCare System-St. Marys (Kan.)*
- Perry Community Hospital (Linden, Tenn.)
- Northridge Medical Center (Commerce, Ga.)*
- Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center (Cuthbert, Ga.)
- Shands Lake Shore Regional Medical Center (Lake City, Fla.)
- Cumberland River Hospital (Celina, Tenn.)
- Bluefield (W.Va.) Regional Medical Center*
- Saint Luke's Cushing Hospital (Leavenworth, Kan.)*
- Shands Live Oak (Fla.) Regional Medical Center*
- Shands Starke (Fla.) Regional Medical Center*
- Williamson (W.V.a) Memorial Hospital*
- Decatur County General Hospital (Parsons, Tenn.)
- Sumner Community Hospital (Wellington, Kan.)
- Edward W. McCready Memorial Hospital (Crisfield, Md.)*
- Mayo Clinic Health System-Springfield (Minn.)*
- Central Hospital of Bowie (Texas)*
- UPMC Susquehanna Sunbury (Pa.)*
- Mountain View Regional Hospital (Norton, Va.)*
- Pinnacle Regional Hospital (Boonville, Mo.)
