From financial challenges, state law violations and reimbursement issues, many factors can contribute to hospitals shutting down.
Many surgery centers are facing similar challenges, and hospital closures in nearby markets could lead to an uptick in ASC case volume.
Here are the reasons behind five hospital closures since Jan. 1
1. Prairieville (La.) Family Hospital closed April 29 after the Louisiana Department of Health determined that the hospital violated state hospital laws and regulations and revoked its license. The department determined the hospital violated a state law by operating as a freestandiing emergency department, according to a March 20 letter to Prairieville Family Hospital obtained by Becker's.
2. Family Hospital at Papillion (Neb.) closed late March after its sister hospital, Family Hospital at Millard in Omaha, shut down in January. The hospitals, which were both part of Texas-based Family Hospital Systems, closed for financial reasons.
3. Stoughton, Mass.-based New England Sinai Hospital, a rehabilitation hospital owned by financially distressed Steward Health Care, closed in March, citing low reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid service.
4. Jellico (Tenn.) Regional Hospital closed March 9. The hospital had been on diversion, but after the CEO resigned and the company that ran the hospital pulled out, CMS intervened to officially shut the hospital down. The hospital had temporarily suspended services due to a staffing shortage in December.
5. Kettering (Ohio) Health closed its emergency department at Kettering Health Piqua on Feb. 1. In a statement shared with Becker's, the health system said there had been a shift in the type of care needed, leading to fewer emergency cases and a rise in demand for other types of care.