These are the rural Kansas hospitals at risk of closure

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Earlier this week, Governor Laura Kelly announced she would be pushing for Medicaid expansion after a study released in July, 2023 by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR) found 58% of rural hospitals were at risk of closure.

“Already, too many rural hospitals have shut their doors,” Governor Laura Kelly said in response to the report. “When that happens, the communities have been devastated. These Kansans have to drive hours now to receive their basic care. There is an obvious way to stop the bleeding: Expand Medicaid.”

Since 2005 there have been nine rural hospital closures in Kansas. Currently, Kansas has 104 rural hospitals, of which 29 are at immediate risk of closure due to severe financial problems. CHQPR attributed the financial issues to patient service margin loss over a multi-year period and to low financial reserves.

Many rural hospitals have a positive total margin despite losses from patient services because they receive local tax revenue or grants to offset the losses. If the other sources of revenue continue to decrease or are terminated, the hospital would no longer have enough revenue to remain open, according to a CHQPR Saving Rural Hospitals report.

The largest factor CHQPR attributed to financial issues was private insurance plans paying less than the cost to deliver services to patients.

Rural hospital closings threaten the nation’s food supply and energy production because farms, ranches, mines, drilling sites, wind farms and solar energy facilities are mostly in rural areas. Attracting and retaining workers may be difficult if workers can’t get adequate healthcare services in these rural areas, according to the CHQPR study.

The CHQPR compiled data from Medicare Cost Reports available as of July 2023. The first 29 hospitals are at immediate risk of closure and the remaining hospitals listed are at risk of closure.

Rural hospitals at immediate risk of closing

NumberHospitalCityTotal ExpensesPatient Services MarginTotal Margin1Mercy Hospital, IncMoundridge5,222,563.00$-32.70%1.50%2Hillsboro Community HospitalHillsboro9,269,917.00$-32.30%-17.70%3Patterson Health CenterAnthony26,342,268.00$-29.90%-7.60%4Bob Wilson Memorial HospitalUlysses14,373,454.00$-29.80%-19.80%5Kiowa County Memorial HospitalGreensburg10,683,575.00$-27.80%-10.50%6Rush County Memorial HospitalLa Crosse7,595,457.00$-27.40%-18.10%7Stanton County HospitalJohnson11,127,033.00$-27.30%-8.60%8Jewell County HospitalMankato8,011,394.00$-27.20%5.50%9Morton County HospitalElkhart8,162,331.00$-25.80%4.80%10Hamilton County HospitalSyracuse15,304,125.00$-24.70%-7.30%11Grisell Memorial HospitalRansom7,251,543.00$-24.10%7.10%12Stormont Vail Health Flint Hills, LLCJunction City45,166,234.00$-23.20%-2.40%13Ashland Health CenterAshland10,108,097.00$-22.80%14.80%14Stafford County HospitalStafford12,945,545.00$-22.60%0.10%15Minneola District Hospital Nbr 2Minneola16,261,523.00$-22.40%-2.20%16Kiowa District HospitalKiowa9,419,882.00$-20.10%-1.80%17Fredonia Regional HospitalFredonia14,567,673.00$-19.40%6.40%18Comanche County HospitalColdwater6,650,524.00$-19.20%1.20%19Anderson County HospitalGarnett32,998,080.00$-18.40%-2.30%20Wichita County Health CenterLeoti11,263,772.00$-18.10%6.10%21Smith County Memorial HospitalSmith Center23,257,586.00$-17.90%-4.70%22Meade District HospitalMeade16,842,582.00$-16.90%-6.60%23Greeley County Health ServicesTribune15,101,309.00$-16.90%15.90%24Decatur HealthOberlin11,403,737.00$-16.80%5.50%25Russell Regional HospitalRussell21,149,221.00$-16.40%4.80%26Gove County Medical CenterQuinter20,794,345.00$-15.60%-2.80%27Trego County Lemke Memorial HospitalWa Keeney19,951,810.00$-15.60%4.90%28Sedan City HospitalSedan5,593,941.00$-15.50%3.60%29Ellinwood District HospitalEllinwood9,986,530.00$-15.50%4.60%Data provided by the CHQPR Data on Rural Hospitals was collected from the Medicare Cost Reports made available in July 2023.

Rural hospitals at risk of closing

NumberHospitalCityTotal ExpensesPatient Services MarginTotal Margin30Ness County Hospital District #2Ness City12,663,445.00$-15.10%13.50%31Lincoln County HospitalLincoln8,104,437.00$-14.80%3.00%32Mercy Hospital ColumbusColumbus5,505,270.00$-14.70%-7.60%33Graham County HospitalHill City10,499,098.00$-14.30%14.70%34Satanta District HospitalSatanta16,399,524.00$-14.10%3.20%35University of KS Health System Great Bend CampusGreat Bend63,887,560.00$-13.10%-8.10%36Osborne County Memorial HospitalOsborne9,161,655.00$-12.90%12.30%37Greenwood County HospitalEureka14,249,587.00$-12.70%15.20%38Ellsworth County Medical CenterEllsworth21,876,596.00$-12.30%0.00%39Edwards County Medical CenterKinsley11,156,184.00$-12.30%9.90%40Medicine Lodge Memorial HospitalMedicine Lodge13,125,293.00$-12.20%4.40%41Allen County Regional HospitalIola32,744,288.00$-11.90%-6.40%42Cheyenne County HospitalSt Francis17,610,153.00$-11.50%3.50%43Norton County HospitalNorton17,298,592.00$-10.90%-5.50%44North Central Kansas Medical CenterConcordia21,268,137.00$-10.00%9.60%45Coffey County HospitalBurlington29,297,967.00$-9.60%3.90%46Girard Medical CenterGirard22,192,836.00$-9.40%1.70%47Hospital District #1 of Rice CountyLyons22,395,112.00$-9.30%10.10%48Kingman Healthcare CenterKingman15,961,363.00$-9.20%2.70%49Rawlins County Health CenterAtwood9,664,457.00$-9.20%8.00%50Kearny County HospitalLakin28,884,051.00$-9.10%7.90%51Stevens County HospitalHugoton20,999,610.00$-8.70%-9.50%52Hanover HospitalHanover7,216,639.00$-8.60%16.10%53Hodgeman County Health CenterJetmore11,185,208.00$-8.50%-3.80%54Logan County HospitalOakley15,885,013.00$-8.50%-0.80%55Sheridan County HospitalHoxie15,589,954.00$-8.30%5.50%56Morris County HospitalCouncil Grove16,088,234.00$-7.80%4.70%57Lane County HospitalDighton8,021,171.00$-7.80%12.40%58Caldwell Regional Medical CenterCaldwell7,012,865.00$-7.60%4.80%59Memorial HospitalAbilene38,559,981.00$-7.10%13.00%60Susan B Allen Memorial HospitalEl Dorado38,577,994.00$-6.90%-9.10%Data provided by the CHQPR Data on Rural Hospitals was collected from the Medicare Cost Reports made available in July 2023.