Health
Hundreds of rural hospitals are in danger of shutting down, study finds: ‘At risk of closure'
Hundreds of hospitals in rural areas of the U.S. are at risk of closure, according to new data from Chartis, a Chicago health care advisory services firm.
A total of 141 rural hospitals have closed since 2010 — while another 453 are “at risk of closure,” according to a press release.
The seven states with the most hospitals vulnerable to closures include Texas (45), Kansas (38), Nebraska (29), Oklahoma (22), North Carolina (19), Georgia (18) and Mississippi (18), as listed in Becker’s Hospital Review.
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In Florida, Tennessee and Nebraska, more than 41% of rural hospitals are at risk of closure.
Between 31% to 40% of rural hospitals are at risk in Utah, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Hundreds of hospitals in rural areas of the U.S. are at risk of closure, according to new data from Chartis, a Chicago health care advisory services firm. (iStock)
In Wyoming, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia, between 26% and 30% of rural hospitals are in danger of closing, the report stated.
Factors impacting closure risk
The analysis identified seven factors that have the biggest impact on a hospital’s risk of closure.
Two of those were the number of years a hospital has been operating without a profit and the amount of net patient revenue.
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The study also looked at the hospital’s average number of inpatients during the year — and the average daily need for skilled nursing facilities.
The remaining three factors include the hospital’s reliance on inpatient revenue, its share of Medicare outpatient charges and each hospital’s case mix index.
Among the rural hospitals that are still operating, an increasing number are dropping essential health services, including cancer treatments and maternal care, the data showed.
An emergency department physician noted that rural hospitals are extremely important for the country’s health care system. (iStock)
Approximately 43% of rural hospitals are operating at a financial deficit, Chartis found.
“As the urgency of the pandemic disappears, the return of policy-driven reimbursement cuts, population health disparities and the nurse staffing crisis will apply renewed pressure to the rural health safety net,” said Michael Topchik, national leader of The Chartis Center for Rural Health, in the release.
How closures impact patients
Dr. Kenneth Perry, an emergency department physician in South Carolina, was not involved in the Chartis analysis but noted that rural hospitals are extremely important for the country’s health care system.
“There are many patients who do not have access to primary care, but are within close enough proximity to rural hospitals, and obtain most of their care within those hospital systems,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“As economic pressures have increased for hospitals in the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult for these hospitals to stay financially profitable.”
Between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and private insurers, hospitals have faced “ever smaller” reimbursement amounts, Perry noted.
“Even with lowering reimbursement, operating costs have skyrocketed,” he added. “This makes it very difficult for rural hospitals to be profitable enough to stay open.”
“As the urgency of the pandemic disappears, the return of policy-driven reimbursement cuts, population health disparities and the nurse staffing crisis will apply renewed pressure to the rural health safety net,” the study author said. (iStock)
In areas where hospitals are forced to shutter, Perry warned that many patients will lose not just hospital care, but also access to emergency departments.
“Many patients, specifically low or under insured patients, use the emergency department as a source of primary care,” he said.
“As economic pressures have increased, it has become increasingly difficult for these hospitals to stay financially profitable.”
“With the closure of these hospitals, many patients will lose access to all of their medical care.”
Without a feasible solution, Perry said, many patients will be left without access to emergency services and primary care.
Impact of REH designation
Chartis’ new report aimed to determine the potential impact of the Rural Hospital Emergency (REH) designation. It was enacted by Congress in Dec. 2020 as a means of ensuring emergency medical services in rural hospitals that may lack the resources to offer them.
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When a hospital is designated as an REH, it is able to provide emergency department services, observation care and potentially some outpatient services as long as the patient’s stay doesn’t exceed an average of 24 hours, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website.
“With the closure of these hospitals, many patients will lose access to all of their medical care,” an emergency department physician warned. (Getty Images)
“For some hospitals, our data model suggests the REH designation will serve as a desperately needed relief valve to avoid closing and provide a significant reversal in fortune for the vulnerable communities they serve,” Topchik said in the release.
“But the decision to convert is highly nuanced, and as a result, we expect to see a relatively small number of hospitals embrace REH.”
There are 389 rural hospitals that Chartis identified as “most likely” to consider converting to REH status, with 77 designated as “ideal candidates.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Chartis and the American Hospital Association requesting additional comment.
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As colorectal cancer (CRC) is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50, a new report reveals some surprising shifts in the incidence of the disease.
Although rates of CRC have been declining among seniors, those 65 and under are facing a rise in diagnoses, according to a report titled Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2026, from the American Cancer Society.
Adults 65 and younger comprise nearly half (45%) of all new colorectal cancer cases — a significant increase from 27% in 1995, states the report, which was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
The disease is rising fastest among adults 20 to 49 years old, at a rate of 3% per year.
Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50. (iStock)
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. Although that age group is eligible to receive routine screenings, just 37% do so.
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The report also revealed that rectal cancer is on the rise, now accounting for about one-third (32%) of all CRC cases — an increase from 27% in the mid-2000s.
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“After decades of progress, the risk of dying from colorectal cancer is climbing in younger generations of men and women, confirming a real uptick in disease because of something we’re doing or some other exposure,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report, in a press release.
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. (iStock)
“We need to redouble research efforts to understand the cause, but also circumvent deaths through earlier detection by educating clinicians and the general public about symptoms and increasing screening in people 45-54 years.”
It is projected that 158,850 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed this year, and that the disease will cause 55,230 deaths, per the report.
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More than half of CRC cases can be linked to high-risk behaviors, the researchers said. Those include lack of nutrition, high alcohol consumption, smoking, lack of exercise and obesity.
“These findings further underscore that colorectal cancer is worsening among younger generations and highlight the immediate need for eligible adults to begin screening at the recommended age of 45,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society.
When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%. (iStock)
“The report also shines a light on the crucial importance of continued funding for research to help discover new therapies to treat the disease and advance patient care.”
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When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%, the report stated.
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A new study suggests that middle-aged men may be more vulnerable to faster biological aging, potentially linked to exposure to “forever chemicals.”
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Aging, examined how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS, could impact aging at the cellular level.
PFAS are synthetic chemicals commonly used in nonstick cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics and other consumer products, the study noted.
Their chemical structure makes them highly resistant to breaking down, allowing them to accumulate in water, soil and the human body.
Chinese researchers analyzed blood samples from 326 adults enrolled in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2000.
A new study suggests that middle-aged men could face accelerated biological aging at the cellular level due to exposure to PFAS. (iStock)
The researchers measured levels of 11 PFAS compounds in participants’ blood and used DNA-based “epigenetic clocks” — tools that analyze chemical changes to DNA to estimate biological age — to determine how quickly their bodies were aging at the cellular level, the study stated.
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Two compounds, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA), were detected in 95% of participants.
Higher concentrations of those chemicals were associated with faster biological aging in men of certain age groups, but not in women.
“People should not panic.”
The compounds most strongly linked to accelerated aging were not the PFAS chemicals that typically receive the most public attention, the researchers noted.
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“The associations were strongest in adults aged 50 to 64, particularly in men,” Dr. Xiangwei Li, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author, told Fox News Digital.
“While this does not establish that PFAS cause aging, it suggests that these widely present ‘forever chemicals’ may be linked to molecular changes related to long-term health and aging.”
The study found that two of the compounds were detected in 95% of participants, and higher levels were linked to faster biological aging in men ages 50–64. (iStock)
Midlife may represent a more sensitive biological period, when the body becomes more vulnerable to age-related stressors, according to the researchers.
Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, may influence biological aging markers, potentially increasing vulnerability to environmental pollutants.
While Li said “people should not panic,” she does recommend looking for reasonable ways to reduce exposure.
That might mean checking local drinking water reports, using certified water filters designed to reduce PFAS, and limiting the use of stain- or grease-resistant products when alternatives are available.
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Meaningful reductions in PFAS exposure will likely depend on broader regulatory action and environmental cleanup efforts, Li added.
The researchers noted that midlife could be a particularly sensitive stage, when the body is more susceptible to stressors associated with aging. (iStock)
Study limitations
The researchers outlined several important limitations of the research, including that the findings show an association, but do not prove that PFAS directly causes accelerated aging.
“The study is cross-sectional, meaning exposure and aging markers were measured at the same time, so we cannot determine causality,” Li told Fox News Digital.
The study was also relatively small, limited to 326 adults age 50 or older, which means the findings may not apply to younger people or broader populations.
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Researchers measured PFAS levels using data collected between 1999 and 2000, and today’s exposure patterns may differ.
Li added that while PFAS is known to persist in the environment and the body, these results should be validated through larger, more recent studies that follow participants over time.
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