KS, MO Share Fourth Highest Rural Hospital Closures

Posted May 1, 2024

Kansas and Missouri are tied for the number of rural hospital closures since 2005. The fourth largest amount by state in the U.S., according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.

Both Kansas and Missouri have closed down ten rural hospitals since 2005, according to a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR). The report, Rural Hospitals at Risk of Closing, from April shows Kansas and Missouri currently still operate 101 and 56 rural hospitals respectively.

Over 192 rural hospitals in America have shut down since 2005 and eight rural hospitals closed in 2023, same as 2022 and 2021 combined, according to the CHQPR.

The report also analyses hospitals at risk and immediate risk by state. For Kansas, 57, or 56%, of hospitals are at risk of closing while 26, or 26%, hospitals are at immediate risk. For Missouri, 21, or 38%, of hospitals are at risk of closing while 9, or 16%, hospitals are at immediate risk.

Hospitals that face immediate risk have lost money delivering patient services over a multi-year period—excluding the first year of the pandemic—and are unlikely to receive sufficient funds from other sources to cover those losses now that federal pandemic assistance has ended, according to the report.

Over 300 of these rural hospitals are at immediate risk of closing.

Largest number of rural hospital closures since 2005 by state:

1: Texas— 25
2: Tennessee — 15
3: North Carolina — 12
4: Kansas —10
4: Missouri — 10
5: California — 9
5: Georgia — 9
6: Florida — 8
6: Oklahoma — 8
7: Alabama — 7
8: Minnesota — 6
8: Mississippi — 6
8: New York — 6
8: Pennsylvania — 6
9: West Virginia — 5
10: Arizona — 4
10: Illinois — 4
10: Indiana — 4
10: Kentucky — 4
10: South Carolina — 4