Millions of Americans No Longer Have Hospital Care in Their Community
Over the past decade, more than 100 rural hospitals have closed. As a result, more than 3 million Americans who live in those communities no longer have access to an emergency room, inpatient care, and many other hospital services that citizens in most of the rest of the country take for granted.
In addition, 52 hospitals have eliminated inpatient services since the beginning of 2023 in order to qualify for federal grants that are only available for Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs).
More than 13,000 rural residents had received inpatient care in those hospitals each year, but now seriously ill individuals in their communities will have to be transferred to a hospital far from home in order to receive the services they need.
