79 Community Hospitals Shut Doors in 1987

A record 79 community hospitals across the country closed their doors in 1987, victims of rising medical costs and falling Medicare reimbursements, the American Hospital Assn. reported today.

The hospital closings occurred in 30 states and were evenly split between urban and rural settings, but the economically depressed oil states were hardest hit, with 25% of the shutdowns coming in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Carol McCarthy, president of the 5,100-member AHA, cited simple economics as the reason for the closures.

“In the past year, nearly seven in 10 rural hospitals in this country lost money caring for patients,” she said. “Fifty percent of urban hospitals operated in the red.”