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Monday, April 3rd, 2023

‘We’re Going Away’: A State’s Choice to Forgo Medicaid Funds Is Killing Hospitals

Author:     Sharon LaFraniere
Source:     The New York Times
Publication Date:     March 28, 2023
 Link: ‘We’re Going Away’: A State’s Choice to Forgo Medicaid Funds Is Killing Hospitals
Stephan:  

Here is yet another tragic story about how Red state legislatures debase the quality of the healthcare available to their citizens, particularly their poorest citizens, and those of color. If you are an older person, or someone with medical issues, or have to rely on Medicaid, and you live in a Red state I urge you to get counseling on what you might face in a medical emergency. This limitation on medical care, and the closing of rural hospitals is a very nasty Red state trend.

Greenwood Leflore Hospital in Mississippi lost $17 million last year, as rural hospitals nationwide struggle to deal with population declines, soaring labor costs, and a long-term shift toward outpatient care.
Credit: Erin Schaff / The New York Times

GREENWOOD, MISSISSIPPI — Since its opening in a converted wood-frame mansion 117 years ago, Greenwood Leflore Hospital had become a medical hub for this part of Mississippi’s fertile but impoverished Delta, with 208 beds, an intensive-care unit, a string of walk-in clinics and a modern brick-and-glass building.

But on a recent weekday, it counted just 13 inpatients clustered in a single ward. The I.C.U. and maternity ward were closed for lack of staffing and the rest of the building was eerily silent, all signs of a hospital savaged by too many poor patients.

Greenwood Leflore lost $17 million last year alone and is down to a few million in cash reserves, said Gary Marchand, the hospital’s interim chief executive. “We’re going away,” he said. “It’s happening.”

Rural hospitals are struggling all over the nation because of population declines, soaring labor costs and […]

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1 Comment

  1. Rev. Dean on Monday, April 3, 2023 at 10:26 am

    Typical of Republicans to screw the poor. I am ready to die, so I do not care about going to any hospital. I even put in my will that I do not want any EMT’s entering my house or do not want to go to a hospital for any reason. I am ready to be with my Dear wIfe in Heaven.