Now approaching the fourth year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas hospitals are still reeling from its impact, facing elevated expenses, depressed patient volume, and tighter margins compared with prepandemic numbers.
Rural hospitals, in particular, are at a significantly higher risk of closing.
These are among the findings in a recent report by Kaufman Hall, a health care consulting company. Such experiences underscore the need for comprehensive rural health care reform, as the Texas Medical Association has advocated for in the run-up to the 2023 state legislative session, which started Jan. 10.
The COVID-19 pandemic represents a double-edged sword to hospitals.
On the one hand, the public health emergency has taken a huge financial toll on hospitals. Overall, nearly twice as many hospitals – 9.2% total – are at risk of closure than were at the start of the pandemic, according to the report. This figure skyrockets when looking at rural hospitals, more than a quarter of which are at risk of closure.
On the other hand, federal pandemic relief dollars have helped keep struggling rural hospitals afloat in the past three years. But this money is drying up, and other challenges, including widespread staffing shortages and rising inflation, threaten hospitals’ viability.
In light of these issues, TMA and others in organized medicine have urged state lawmakers to increase funding for rural hospitals, invest in the physician workforce, and expand telehealth coverage.
Most recently, Adrian Billings, MD, a family physician serving Alpine, Marfa, and Presidio, testified on behalf of TMA and the Texas Academy of Family Physicians before the Texas House Committee on Public Health last September.
Dr. Billings endorsed state legislation that would incentivize medical schools and training hospitals to admit rural students, who are more likely to return to and practice in rural communities. He also suggested lawmakers develop “a cohesive, enduring, long-term rural health enhancement plan,” which would:
Expand access to comprehensive, affordable health coverage;
Fund programs that incentivize physicians to train and to practice in health professional shortage areas;
Ensure telehealth payment parity so rural physicians can afford to continue providing telehealth services; and
Promote the adoption of value-based payment models, including those focused on rural maternal and mental health services.
“Whether living and working in rural Texas, [vacationing], or just passing through, people get sick, have car accidents, or deliver babies,” he said during the hearing. “That means access to high-quality, safe, and effective rural health care is important to all Texans as well as the millions of visitors to [rural] Texas annually.”
Emma Freer
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1383