ospital bankruptcies are not rare, but many of them have ended with the hospital being sold or closed, online media reports show. At least 10 hospitals filed for bankruptcy in 2014, and at least three filed for bankruptcy this year before not-for-profit El Paso Children’s Hospital filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy Tuesday, according to an online list compiled by Value Healthcare Services, a Georgia company that helps hospitals recover money from patients who file bankruptcy.
While this may turn out to be true, a number of other issues led to hospital bankruptcies in 2014. They include administration mismanagement, natural disasters and patient preference for larger, urban hospitals. As you’ll see, filing for bankruptcy doesn’t necessarily mean that a hospital will be closing its doors. Here’s a look at the hospitals that declared bankruptcy in 2014, in alphabetical order:
- Archer City Nursing Center
- Casa Grande Regional Medical Center
- Craig General Hospital
- C.W. Williams Health Care Center
- Gilbert Hospital
- Hutcheson Medical Center
- Key Rehabilitation Company
- Long Beach Medical Center
- Monroe Hospital
- Natchez Regional Medical Center
- Nicholas County Hospital
- North Adams Regional Hospital
- Palm Drive Hospital
- Specialty Hospitals of America
- St. Francis Hospital
- St. Anthony’s Hospital
Hospital bankruptcies in 2014 outpaced those of previous years due largely to inconsistent account payment. The successful passage of the Patient Affordable Care Act, “Obamacare,” had hospital administrators hopeful that insurance coverage would greatly reduce hospital debt by allowing patients to address illness in its early, lower-cost, stages.
