KY Hospital Surpassed by Urban Hospitals
Nicholas County Hospital has announced plans to close its doors and file Chapter 7 bankruptcy citing insurmountable financial challenges and the trend toward “larger, urban-centered hospitals” that has forced many other rural health centers to close.
The 18-bed hospital is located in the town of Carlisle in northeastern Kentucky. Nicholas County Hospital is operated by a private nonprofit organization, Johnson Mathers Health Care Inc., and has 44 full-time and 40 part-time employees, all of whom are expected to be laid off according to hospital spokesman Stephen Scalf.
The courts are looking for opportunities to set up an ambulatory care center on the county-owned property. According to Judge-Executive Mike Pryor, several healthcare providers have expressed an interest in the space. The county will be able to replace jobs and resources once the bankruptcy process is completed, The Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Hospital officials say the hospital was losing more than $100,000 a month. In addition to the national trend toward larger regional medical centers, officials blame the closure on a drop in patient numbers, delayed state and federal reimbursements.
“It’s a trickle-down effect that’s going to impact the entire community and then there’s the more critical life-saving aspect. There are a number of people within the community who are alive today because they were able to receive treatment at the hospital,” Scalf said.
Two programs affiliated with Nicholas County Hospital will remain open. The first is one of the hospital’s rural health clinics established in 2010. The second is the Johnson Mathers Nursing Home which shares the hospital campus.
The board issued a news release, which stated Nicholas County Hospital could not compete with large urban hospitals.
“Over the past months, the board members have been in almost daily contact exploring every possible option to keep the hospital open; however, when the financial situation reached a point that the hospital could no longer continue operating in accordance with its mission statement without jeopardizing patient safety, the board members had no other choice than filing for bankruptcy.”
Several other hospitals have gone bankrupt in 2014. Click on the articles below to learn more.
St. Francis Hospital Closes in Bankruptcy (Poughkeepsie, NY)
Palm Drive Hospital Closes in Bankruptcy (Sonoma County, California)
Natchez Regional Hospital Files Bankruptcy (Southwest Mississippi)
North Adams Hospital Files for Bankruptcy (Western Massachusetts)
Gilbert Hospital Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (Phoenix, Arizona)