Rural hospital closures in California raised mortality rates - Entrepreneur Generations

"When a hospital closes in an urban area, mortality rates don’t change. But when a rural hospital shuts its doors, according to a new study, mortality rates increase nearly six percent," Bill Bishop reports for The Daily Yonder. "The new study helps clear up a question about the impact of hospital closures on health. Earlier studies at times have shown that a closed hospital didn’t seem to have much impact on health."

University of Washington researchers analyzed 92 hospital closures between 1995 and 2011 in California. Urban hospital closures didn't much impact local mortality rates, but in rural areas with hospital closures, mortality rates increased 5.9%. "This matched earlier studies, which found mortality rates increasing from 3 to 10 percent after a rural hospital closes," Bishop reports.

That has sobering implications for rural areas, which have seen increasing hospital closures in the past years. Ninety-seven rural hospitals have closed since 2010, and more than a fifth of the nation's rural hospitals—about 430 in 43 states—are at high risk of closure, Alex Kacik reports for Modern Healthcare.

Mortality rates increase after a rural hospital closure because local patients have a harder time accessing care: they must often drive much longer distances to see a doctor, and many patients lack reliable transportation, time for the trip, or gas money. Nearby facilities become overcrowded because of the influx of new patients, which can lead to a decrease in the quality of care and longer wait times. All those factors add up to higher mortality rates, Bishop reports.

Beyond the mortality rate, rural hospital closures have a cataclysmic effect on the surrounding economy, since hospitals are often the largest employer in the area.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2ZvOHq7 Rural hospital closures in California raised mortality rates - Entrepreneur Generations

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