One In Five Rural Hospitals At High Risk Of Closing, Analysis Finds

A new report from Navigant, titled “Rural Hospital Sustainability,” finds that just over one in five U.S. hospitals is at high risk of closing. The report—released earlier this month—comes as part of Navigant’s health care management consultancy, one of its four segments.

These hospitals total over 21,500 staffed beds, 150,000 employees, and $21.2 billion in health care consumer revenue. Compounding the threat, the analysis also found that 64% of these high financial risk rural hospitals are considered essential to the communities they serve. In its analysis, Navigant attributes these risks mostly to payer . . .