The 2025 Rural Health State of the State report issued by the Chartis Center for Rural Health exposes the dire circumstances facing sustained access to care in rural areas of the United States. “Care deserts” continue to proliferate at a time when the population health status of the more than 46 million residents living in these rural areas is already on a downward spiral. The Chartis report also opines that nearly half of all rural hospitals in the United States are operating in the red, and 432 rural hospitals are vulnerable to permanently closing their doors. In the past year alone, 18 rural hospitals have already either ceased operations or discontinued inpatient services.
