Multiple VA Hospitals At 'Immediate Risk' For Shutdown, New Report Says

VIRGINIA — Eight struggling Virginia rural hospitals are among 300 nationwide that are at “immediate risk of closure,” a new report says. The report comes as Medicaid changes are contemplated in the House Republican budget bill unveiled earlier this week.

The report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform said the proposed cuts threaten to upend health care in some of the nation’s most vulnerable communities. Some 66 million Americans live in rural areas, according to the 2020 Census, including about 24.9 percent of Virginia’s residents, according to American Community Survey data.

Virginia has 31 open rural hospitals. The eight at immediate risk of shutting down represent 26 percent of the state’s rural hospitals. In all, nine of Virginia’s rural hospitals are threatened by the proposed cuts, the report said. Nationally, about 700 rural hospitals — one-third of the total inventory of these institutions — are on unsure financial footing, according to the report.

Additionally, 38 hospitals have eliminated inpatient services since the beginning of 2023 to qualify for federal grants available only to Rural Emergency Hospitals, or REHs. While no Virginia hospitals have cut inpatient services, eight have eliminated other programs.

Nationally, nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed since 2005, including two in Virginia. As a result, millions of Americans no longer have access to emergency rooms, inpatient care and other health care services taken for granted in other parts of the country, the report said.

In general, these institutions operate on narrow margins, and Medicaid funding is the backbone of their funding, especially in those areas with a high rate of participation in public insurance enrollment.

The report’s authors said most of the at-risk hospitals are in isolated communities, and their closure would mean residents would be required to travel long distances for emergency, obstetric or inpatient care. Additionally, these institutions are often the only places people can get lab tests or imaging studies and may be the principal source of primary care in the community.

Hospital closures could have far-reaching economic impacts beyond the loss of health care services, the report warned.

“As a result, closure of the hospital would cause a loss of access to many essential healthcare services,” the authors said. “In addition, rural hospital closures threaten the nation’s food supply and energy production, because farms, ranches, mines, drilling sites, wind farms, and solar energy facilities are located primarily in rural areas, and they will not be able to attract and retain workers if health care isn’t available in the community.”

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