For some rural communities, a stripped-down hospital is better than none at all

From Source NM (Link: https://sourcenm.com/2024/06/07/for-some-rural-communities-a-stripped-down-hospital-is-better-than-none-at-all/):

On many days, some small hospitals in rural Mississippi admit just one patient — or none at all.

The hospitals are drowning in debt. The small, tight-knit communities they’ve anchored for decades can do little but watch as the hospitals shed services and staff just to stay afloat.

The federal government recently offered a lifeline: a new Medicare program designed to save dying rural hospitals that will pay them millions to stop offering inpatient services and instead focus on emergency care.

“Some of the community feedback is, ‘You’re giving up. You’re not a hospital any longer,’” said Netterville, himself a former administrator at a small rural hospital in south Mississippi. “In reality, the local hospital is giving up a service that’s no longer viable anyway.”

Under the new federal program, rural hospitals with fewer than 50 beds can become a “rural emergency hospital” to unlock additional government funding — about $3.3 million extra per year plus a 5% increase in Medicare reimbursements.