Report: Financial losses put 13 rural Florida hospitals at risk of closure

More than a dozen rural Florida hospitals are at a risk of closing — some in as soon as two years, according to a new report. 

The report is from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, a national policy center focused on designing and implementing payment systems that support affordable, patient-centered health care. The report, overall on a national level, found that more than 700 rural U.S. hospitals are at risk of closure due to financial problems, with more than half those hospitals at immediate risk of closure. The report, using July hospital financial information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as covered by Becker’s Hospital CFO report, probes financial vulnerability of rural hospitals in two categories: risk of closure and immediate risk of closure.

The risk of closure is measured by financial reserves that can cover losses on patient services for six to seven years. In over half of all U.S. states, 25% or more of rural hospitals face this risk, with nine states having a majority of the rural hospitals in jeopardy, the Becker’s report states. In Florida there are 8 hospitals at risk of closing — 36% of all rural hospitals in the Sunshine State.