Hospital Closures In the United States and the Impact on the Availability of Health Care Services
Hospital Closures throughout the United States-Adversely Impacting Small Towns Today, I opened the paper to learn that the Catholic order which purchased the community hospital in my city of 39,056 souls is going to close the hospital. [1] The hospital was built with public funds and run as a nonprofit, but gradually began to branch out into more lucrative service areas. My community has the largest concentrated population of low-income (Medicaid eligible households) in the county, which was by design, thanks to government sanctioned higher-density housing to accommodate the burgeoning ranks of WWII workers. Consequently, the availability of low-income housing and access to health care, with minimal transit costs, made this a live-able community for veterans, retirees, and single families. In recent years, the area has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with young families, moving over from the mainland, because of the good schools, clean air, and affordable homes. However, young fami...