COVID-19 may be the 'final nail in the coffin' for rural hospitals

With the nation’s attention riveted on Covid-19, the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) says the closures of the nation’s hospitals—170 closures of rural hospitals in the last 15 years and growing—is not getting the attention it should be receiving. “Patients in rural America are losing access to hospital care. They’re losing access to emergency care. In the midst of Covid-19, this crisis is escalating. Covid-19 is not the direct cause of hospital closures, but for some it could be the final nail in the coffin that leads them to shut their doors,” said Twila Brase, president and co-founder of the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, a national patient-centered health care policy organization.