Healthy Hospitals for Healthier Communities
RURAL Hospitals Close
- 500+ (more than 1/4 of all rural hospitals) were at immediate risk of closure before the pandemic
- Almost one in every state at immediate risk
- 22 states have <25% at immediate risk
- Due to COVID-caused revenue issues, estimates likely understate severity of problem
- 136 have closed since 2010, Texas leads with 21 closures
- Tragically, the rural mortality rate speaks for itself
RURAL Communities Collapse
- Hospital employees lose their salary due to the closure and do not spend as much in the community
- Communities lose hospital purchases of other goods and services from the community
- Communities lose an attractant for future migration and business development
- Average per-capita income reduced by $703 or 4%
- Unemployment increases by an average of 1.6%
What is Our Health Connect?
Our founders, Barry Couch and John Henderson, have been deeply involved in rural healthcare and community health for over six decades combined. The failure of hundreds of rural hospitals across the United States has contributed to the deterioration and, in too many cases, the virtual disappearance of the communities those rural hospitals once served.
The Health Connect team knows that all healthy rural hospitals have strong community connections.
Therefore, our mission is to ensure hospital and community leaders have the means to initiate, nurture, and sustain the strongest possible connection between the community and its hospital.
