The number of acute care hospitals in the US decreased by a net 216 between 2010 and 2025. During that period, 432 hospitals closed and 216 new ones opened, according to an analysis by Harvard University specialists published in JAMA. The study covers 4,962 hospitals and tracks changes in healthcare facilities and hospital beds.
The net decline was accompanied by a loss of 24,399 beds, or 3.3% compared to the level in 2010. The authors found that closures increased by an average of 4% per year, while the number of newly opened hospitals decreased by 3% per year.
Closings are not just a rural problem
The data do not support the thesis that hospital closures are a phenomenon limited mainly to rural areas. The share of closed hospitals is 9.1% in urban areas and 8.3% in rural areas, and the difference is not statistically significant.
This is stated by Thomas Tsai, corresponding author of the study and associate professor of health policy and management at Harvard University.
Some hospitals have retained outpatient services
Of the 432 hospitals that have ceased inpatient operations, 315 have closed completely. Another 117 have stopped accepting patients for inpatient treatment but have continued to offer outpatient services. Among them are 45 rural acute care hospitals.
The study reports a higher share of closures among for-profit hospitals – 21.4%, compared to 6% for non-profit hospitals. Smaller hospitals, non-teaching structures, and hospitals serving socially vulnerable communities were even more vulnerable.
The closures were concentrated in counties with the highest social vulnerability. The authors also tracked the change in the distance to the nearest hospital after the closure of hospitals, citing access to emergency and acute care as a key issue for health policy.
Sources: jamanetwork.com, beckershospitalreview.com