Rural hospital closures: what’s the fix?

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. ( WHNT ) — For years, Alabamians have faced rural hospitals closing down, becoming emergency-only units, or closing specific departments and services.

For one, citizens would have significantly fewer hospital choices throughout the Tennessee Valley if it weren’t for the Huntsville Hospital System taking struggling rural hospitals under its wing.

Experts blame a handful of factors, ranging from Alabama’s lack of Medicaid expansion to the workforce shortage following the pandemic.

“If you were running a business, and one out of the five people coming to your business you, by federal law, had to serve but got no reimbursement for it, you would very quickly go broke,” Alabama Public Hospital Association CEO Don Williamson said.

Alabama currently has 52 rural hospitals. Thirty of them are at risk for closing, and 23 of those 30 are at immediate risk. However, these hospitals not only provide healthcare, but they also benefit the community that they call home by providing a space for people to come together.

“There may not be restaurants in the community,” said Alabama Rural Health Association Former President Farrell Turner. “And, a lot of times, you’ll have people that’ll actually come to the hospital maybe for Sunday lunch after church, or something like that.”

“When you close, you lose medical support in the community, you impact the economy of the community, and it makes it much much harder to recruit business and industry into a community,” Williamson said.

Huntsville Hospital System has incorporated rural hospitals in the area to hold true to their mission of ensuring healthcare for all North Alabamians.

“Keeping that hospital open helps people in Huntsville because we don’t have more crowded ERs with everyone coming here for care,” said Huntsville Hospital Health System CEO Jeff Samz. “We need those regional hospitals to provide care close to home. And, it helps people live in their community, have a baby in their local hospital or go to the emergency room at night without having to drive all the way to Huntsville.”

Experts say that step one towards keeping these hospitals afloat is to become a Medicaid expansion state.

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