EXCERPT: “The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the financial vulnerability facing small, rural healthcare facilities, many of which were already struggling to stay financially viable, according to a review of health care financial records and interviews with hospital administrators. The pandemic cost hospitals cash they did not have, while at the same time eliminated revenue those facilities desperately needed. Those hospitals are in a unique situation. They are publicly owned ‘district’ hospitals that serve dozens of communities scattered over large geographic areas in rural Minnesota. Without those facilities, access to healthcare would be severely limited in the far reaches of the state. But even with taxpayer funding, they regularly operate in the red. 5 INVESTIGATES obtained financial statements from seven district hospitals in greater Minnesota and found that in 2018, five of those facilities lost money.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/3cUyNZ5
