Hospital Strength Index's identifies vulnerable rural hospitals by state; 210 'most vulnerable'

RURAL HOSPITAL CLOSINGS
(iVantage Health Analytics chart)

The Hospital Strength Index released this week by iVantage Health Analytics includes state-level data on the number of vulnerable rural hospitals in each state, as well as the number of critical-access rural hospitals and data on how many health-care and community jobs the hospitals provide and the number of patient encounters.

From 2010 to Jan. 25 of this year, 66 rural hospitals have closed, and 673 are vulnerable to closing, with 210 considered most vulnerable, according to the index. The 673 hospitals are responsible for 99,000 direct jobs, 137,000 community jobs and 11.7 million patient encounters. (An screenshot of the interactive map appears below, showing that 42 rural hospitals in Mississippi are vulnerable. To view the interactive map click here.)