Rural hospital closures and nursing home outcomes.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Rural hospital closures since 2005 reached 194 this year, raising concerns for rural health care access. Little is known about the effects of facility closures on the local long-term care sector. This analysis models the relationship between rural hospital closure and nursing homes in the same county. We explore nursing home-level outcomes related to utilization and resident health.

Methods

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Healthcare Cost Report Information System, LTCFocus, and NC Rural Health Research Program hospital closure datasets are used to conduct a difference-in-differences study of closures from 2012 to 2019.

Findings

We do not find evidence that hospital closure impacted non-hospital-based nursing home occupancy rate, proportion of Medicare

SUBMITTER: Keesee E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12032513 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature