Yes, hospitals are closing around the country, but even more often, hospitals shut down specific services, especially relatively unprofitable ones like maternity care and behavioral healthcare. This leads to what gets referred to as "care deserts." Closures may not be all bad, but most of them ultimately make it harder for patients to access care — and some patients are more likely than others to be impacted. Many experts will tell you that all hospitals can't be all things to all people amid the U.S.' demographic changes and care advancements, and some argue the closure of some hospitals or services actually has some positive outcomes in terms of efficiencies or quality. But a big problem is that hospitals are responding to the financial incentives created by both government and private insurers, and those incentives aren't always aligned with what society writ large wants from a hospital.
