'Not just a hospital,' 17 rural ND hospitals operating at a loss

[TexasTowelie]

Brad Gibbens grew up in Cando, N.D., where a single hospital provided care for people up to 50 miles away.

That distance may seem unsettling, but in rural North Dakota that’s the norm, said Gibbens, now the deputy director of the Center for Rural Health at UND.

“I grew up in rural North Dakota in a town with a hospital; it basically means everything,” Gibbens said. “It is an access point to care, but also a big part of economic development.”

But, according to Gibbens, rural health care could be jeopardized as many rural hospitals struggle to turn a profit.

Roughly one in five rural hospitals in the nation is in danger of closing due to financial standing, according to a recent study. In North Dakota, that would be devastating for many rural communities, experts on rural health care say. North Dakota has five rural hospitals considered “essential at-risk,” the study indicates. The study does not say where those five hospitals are located.

Read more: https://www.inforum.com/business/healthcare/1008745-‘Not-just-a-hospital-17-rural-ND-hospitals-operating-at-a-loss

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. That would be devestating .....

My daughter was born at a small hospital in Pembina Country in Cavalier, North Dakota. Four years ago, I was back there to show our eldest Granddaughter where we once lived before moving to Minnesota. Even the Hospital. If that one closes, there would be nothing between Grand Forks or Minot.

[Phoenix61]

2. When people talk about difficulties

accessing care in countries with socialized medicine they completely ignore the difficulties people in rural areas face.