Donald Trump and Republicans’ decision to gut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is driving more than 1,200 hospitals, clinics, wards, and nursing homes to close their doors, cut services, or face the threat of closure or cuts. As providers grapple with Republican cuts, rising operating costs, and workforce shortages, critical care is disappearing from communities, putting more miles between patients and the care they need.
This week, Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall, Missouri announced it will end inpatient labor and delivery services after financial losses, forcing expectant mothers to travel elsewhere to give birth. In rural Ohio, the closure of a local cancer center will turn a 10 minute trip for one patient into an hour-long drive, creating a painful uncertainty over where he’ll receive care.
As patients face longer and more difficult journeys to get care, health care systems are also being forced to make painful cuts to their workforce. As a result of these reckless cuts to health care, Trinity Health in Livonia, Michigan announced they will be laying off 557 workers. We’re seeing the same trend across the county, with Dartmouth Health eliminating a total of 427 positions across New Hampshire and Vermont, and Health First cutting a total of 214 positions throughout Florida. Read more about the mounting toll of provider cuts here.
Recent National Coverage:
KyPolicy: Federal Rural Health Funds Can’t Stop Harm to Hospitals From Medicaid Cuts
HealthExec: Rural Hospitals Are Losing Maternal Health Services at an Accelerating Rate, With 58% Now Lacking Obstetrics
Becker’s Hospital Review: 60 Hospitals Closing Departments or Ending Services
Becker’s ASC Review: 3 Physician Practice Closures in 10 Days
Becker’s Health IT: Health Systems Rethink Home-Based Care Amid Closures, Cuts and Expansion
Academy of Management Today: The Devastating Impact of Medicaid Cuts on Rural Hospitals
Alabama
Birmingham Business Journal: UAB Eye Emergency Department to Close, Reopen as Urgent Care With Limited Hours
Big News Network: Alabama’s Rural Hospitals Strain With Medicaid Coverage Gap
Colorado
Colorado Public Radio: Kids’ Health and Pediatric Clinics Are Under Heightened Pressure Due to Federal Cuts, Sweeping Policy Change
Florida
WOFL: Health First Cuts Over 200 Jobs in Brevard County
Becker’s Hospital Review: Health First Cutting 214 Roles, Ending Hospital-At-Home Program
Florida Today: Health First Announces Layoffs of 214 Workers
Indiana
Inside Indiana Business: Fort Wayne Medical Oncology and Hematology to Close Bluffton Clinic
Illinois
Wednesday Journal: New West Sub Owners, Insight Health Systems, Struggle With Reopening Hospitals in Ohio
Austin Weekly News: The Human Faces Behind the West Sub Debacle
WLS: Settlement Clears Way for Insight Chicago to Manage Weiss Memorial, West Suburban Hospitals
Chicago Sun-Times: West Suburban, Weiss to Be Sold to Insight Health Systems
Becker’s Hospital Review: Insight to Take Over 2 Closed Illinois Hospitals
Chicago Tribune: Owners of West Suburban and Weiss Reach Agreement Over Control of the Hospitals, After Months in Court
Maine
WMTW: National Nurses Union Hosts Rally in Bangor Against Federal Healthcare Cuts
Minnesota
Minnesota Star-Tribune (Michael Scribner-O’Pray): Opinion | Children’s Health Care Shouldn’t Need Philanthropy to Survive
Minnesota Star-Tribune: Opinion: Children’s Health Care Shouldn’t Need Philanthropy to Survive
Missouri
KMMO: Fitzgibbon to End Labor, Delivery Services Sept. 30
New Hampshire
New Hampshire Bulletin: Dartmouth Health Lays off 124 in Effort to ‘Improve Long-Term Sustainability
Concord Monitor: Dartmouth Health Lays off 124 Employees and Eliminates 303 Positions
New York
News 12 Hudson Valley: Families Speak Out as Judge Temporarily Stops Sullivan County Nursing Home Closure
WHEC: News10NBC Investigates: Over 70 Residents Remain at Waterview Heights, Still Needing New Placements
Albany Times Union: Judge Temporarily Halts Sullivan County Nursing Home’s Controversial Closure Plan
Albany Times Union: ‘What Am I Supposed to Do?’: Sullivan County Nursing Home Residents Face Abrupt Move
Ohio
WOIO: ‘I’ll Just Have to Go Further’: Patients Brace for Longer Commutes as Geneva Cancer Center Closes
Pennsylvania
Olean Times Record: Pa. State Rep: Kaleida Blocking Hospital Care in Bradford
Spectrum: Lawsuit Blocks Closure of Sullivan County’s Care Center at Sunset Lake
Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Talks to Reopen Tiny Pa. Hospital Fail, Leaving Dozens of Patients and Employees Displaced
WPSU: Long-Term Care Facility at Former Bradford Hospital to Close by December 1
Patch: Former Delco Hospital Could Get New Life, but Return of ER Not Guaranteed
Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Talks to Reopen Tiny Pa. Hospital Fail, Leaving Dozens of Patients and Employees Displaced
Rhode Island
The Valley Breeze: Months After Purchase of n.p. Hospital, Questions Surface With Chartercare Health
Tennessee
WSMV: Regulators Remove ‘Immediate Jeopardy’ Status Putting Nashville Hospital at Risk of Losing Medicare Agreement After Medication Error
Hoodline: Memphis Hearing Clinic Closure Is Tied to Parent Company’s Chapter 7 Case
WSMV: Regulators Remove ‘Immediate Jeopardy’ Status Putting Nashville Hospital at Risk of Losing Medicare Agreement After Medication Error
Virginia
WJHL: Schools Feeling Pressure After Health Clinic Closures
Washington
Tacoma News Tribune: Tacoma Youth Residential Treatment Facility to Close 6 Years After Expansion
Puget Sound Business Journal: Closure of Pearl Youth Residence in Tacoma Triggers 92 Layoffs
KIRO: Cities Brace for Sweeping Healthcare Cuts From HR1
South Whidbey Record: Freeland Medical Clinic Closes, Moves Operations North
Becker’s ASC Review: Washington Physician Practice Closes