Rural hospital closures impacting counties’ employment, wage growth

A recent story from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City examines how hospital closures in rural areas have economic impacts that reverberate throughout the community. The report’s author, Kelly Edmiston, found that rural counties with hospital closures saw meaningfully lower annual growth in employment and aggregate wages three years after the closure than counties without hospital closures. Closings were found to have a larger effect on smaller counties, where the hospital has a higher share of employment and wages relative to the total county employment and wages. Other longer-term repercussions could also impede economic growth, Edmiston states, with the loss of access to care the most fundamental concern. The story can be found here.