A recent study revealed that rural hospital closures increase mortality rates, as opposed to urban hospital closures. Researchers looked at closures from 1995 to 2011 based on California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development data. The result showed that patient mortality increased by 5.9 percent after a rural hospital shuttered its doors.

Mortality for stroke patients increased by 3.1 percent and for acute myocardial infarction patients by 4.5 percent.

For details, go here: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/rural-hospital-closures-increase-mortality-rates-study-finds.html