HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - More than a dozen rural hospitals in Alabama are at immediate risk of closing, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment and Reform’s annual study on the topic.
There was a similar situation in 2023, so the fact that some hospitals remained open is a silver lining. However, Danne Howard, the Deputy Director of the Alabama Hospital Association, says many small hospitals are on life support, and the situation is still very dire.
Those in the AHA would not be surprised if in the short term, a couple of rural hospitals reach that point.
That’s because state hospitals have lost $1.5 billion since the start of the pandemic, and closing the health insurance coverage gap is the main issue at play here, according to Howard.
Nearly 300,000 low-income Alabamians fall into this coverage gap because they make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford private health insurance.
Howard says Alabama’s hospitals provide more than $650 million in uncompensated care every single year, and the math for staying open doesn’t add up.
“Imagine any business that provides goods and services being required to give away for free whatever their goods or services are to everyone who walks in the door, regardless of their ability to pay for that goods and services. How long were those businesses stay in operation? Not long,” Howard said.
Alabama’s 51 rural hospitals provide care to about 2 million people each year, and 44% of Alabamians depend on these hospitals for their main source of health care.
When pressed on the specific hospitals that are most at risk, Howard would not say, and her reasoning was simple.
If people think their hospital is on the verge of closing its doors, staffers will look for other jobs.
Howard says that could lead to a catastrophic domino effect for these small towns since it’s usually the largest employer.
“If the hospital closes, it’s a lot of jobs locally, obviously that are left, but it is not just those that worked at the hospital. It’s the pharmacies in town that supported the prescriptions. It’s the physicians that supported the hospital,” Howard said. “It’s not just the health care services that are no longer there. It is some of the pharmacies, grocery stores, other things.”
To keep their doors open, Howard says her organization is trying to work with lawmakers to try and close the health insurance coverage gap, which is hurting these small hospitals and their bottom line.
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