A national study shows that North Carolina ranks high on a list of states with community hospitals in danger of closing.
The report comes from the Chicago-based Chartis Center for Rural Health. It shows that 30 percent of North Carolina's rural community hospitals are considered as vulnerable to closing due to potential financial shortfalls.
The News & Record reports that six North Carolina hospitals were categorized as “most vulnerable," while nine others are “at risk.”
The hospitals were not identified in the study.
The report says pressures on the rural health safety net mean hospitals nationwide are closing at an accelerated rate. It also points to the “unintended consequences” of state Medicaid political polices.
North Carolina in one of 14 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.