this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2024
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After receiving federal funding, a remote Wyoming community is bucking closure trends throughout the rural U.S. and building its own hospital. It's not the only one.

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[–] OccamsRazer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What changed so that hospitals are closing in the first place?

[–] Evrala@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Rural hospitals aren't as profitable, so privately held hospitals have been closing so the company can invest money where they make more money per dollar spent.

[–] OccamsRazer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's usually the answer, but it also begs the question why aren't they as profitable as they used to be?

[–] mysticpickle@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Some might be as profitable/unpredictable as they used to be, but urban/suburban areas are still much more profitable areas for hospitals to operate.

The reality of rural areas is that by their nature there just aren't as many people there

[–] OccamsRazer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Yeah i came up with a few possible explanations:

  1. Corporate strategic decision to cut less profitable hospitals.
  2. Reduced population from people moving to the cities.
  3. Changes in billing or insurance that reduce profitability.

Or some combination of these.