The rural hospital crisis is complicated. Finding a solution will be, too | Opinion
Tennessee leads the country in hospital losses because state government made crucial mistakes related to health care, and we are paying for them now.
Barbara Clinton, Randall Rice, Rich Henighan, Judy Roitman and Clare Sullivan
Guest columnists
Barbara Clinton, Randall Rice, Rich Henighan, Judy Roitman and Clare Sullivan represent the Tennessee Health Care Campaign.
At last the problem of Tennessee’s steady loss of rural hospitals is receiving attention, thanks in part to the nonpartisan Tennessee Health Care Campaign’s report, “The Ambulance is Our Emergency Room,” which was released in March. Developed by community representatives and academics, it identifies factors that influence hospital closures and the effect of a hospital closure on rural communities. In addition to strategies for sustaining rural health systems, preventing rural hospital closures and enabling communities to rebuild their health infrastructure after a hospital loss, the report identifies tools communities can use to assess the health of their hospitals and actions to take when hospitals show signs of weakness.