In the Mississippi Delta, a hospital anchors its community. Now it's in danger of closing.
Betty Sibley had just laid down to rest after a shower last month when she realized something was wrong.
There were hives bubbling up on her arms and her throat was beginning to swell shut. Both were signs that she was suffering from a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
A first responder injected her with an EpiPen in her thigh and an ambulance raced her to Greenwood Leflore Hospital, roughly 5 miles away, where emergency room staff took over, administering steroid shots.
“I would have died if it had not been for this hospital,” she said.
Now, the hospital she turned to in an emergency is struggling to keep its doors open.
In the past year, the rural hospital’s cash reserves have plummeted, and patient traffic has slowed. Many of those who do come are uninsured, meaning unless they pay out-of-pocket, or pursue some other form of financial assistance, the hospital is unlikely to be reimbursed for their care. And the Medicare loan that helped the hospital in the pandemic now costs Greenwood Leflore more than $100,000 per month.
Hospital leaders have tried to slow the crisis through layoffs and slashing services. Administrators scrapped pay incentives that had helped keep the hospital staffed. This fall Greenwood Leflore closed its labor and delivery unit because there wasn’t enough staff. On Nov. 30, the hospital’s pulmonology clinic will close, a decision made after low patient volume and poor revenue.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mississippi-delta-hospital-greenwood-leflore-rcna57949
This is happening to rural hospitals all over the country.
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