Rural hospitals are sinking under COVID-19 financial pressures

Jerome Antone says he is one of the lucky ones. After becoming ill with COVID-19, Antone was hospitalized only 65 miles away from his small Alabama town. He is the mayor of Georgiana — population 1,700. "It hit our rural community so rabid," Antone says. The town's hospital closed last year. If hospitals in nearby communities don't have beds available, "you may have to go four or five hours away."