Health Advocates Concerned About Closure of Hospitals in Rural Washington State
A "serious fiscal crisis" among rural hospitals in Washington state has prompted concern among health advocates about possible closures, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports. No rural hospitals in the state have closed since 1988. In 2001, rural hospitals in the state had an operating margin of 0.99% on average, compared to 2.66% for urban hospitals, according to the Washington State Hospital Association. According to the Journal, the following are several reasons for rural Washington hospitals' financial troubles:
- Patients seeking care in rural facilities are typically "older, sicker and more likely to have no private insurance."
- Residents of mostly rural Eastern Washington are twice as likely to lack health insurance, compared to residents of central Puget Sound, nearly Seattle, according to the state Department of Health.
- Many rural hospital facilities are "[d]eteriorating."
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