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AUSTIN – On Monday, the state health commission discussed how federal funds could be used to address the growing problem of shrinking healthcare.
76 rural Texas hospitals face closure
Big picture view:
According to a watchdog group, 76 rural hospitals in Texas are at risk of closing. Reasons for closing range from shrinking populations, declining reimbursement levels and increasing operating costs. Many rural Texas hospitals and urgent care clinics are operating on life support.
At the state capitol Monday, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission heard hours of testimony from rural hospital executives, medical providers and others that are affected by dwindling healthcare resources in their communities.
High costs and low reimbursements
What they’re saying:
“They face a widening gap between the care their patients need and the clinicians they can recruit,” said Nurse Practitioner, Lauren Ingram.Â
“We bear the burden of Medicaid and economically disadvantaged patients in our communities writing millions of dollars off each year to assure them access to care,” said CEO of Electra Hospital District, Rebecca McCain.
Texas leads nation in rural hospital closures
Local perspective:
According to the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH), Texas leads the nation in rural hospital closures. 25 hospitals have closed in the last two decades.
Doctor Timothy Bray is the director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research at UT Dallas.
“We’ve been struggling with rural healthcare access to care for many years now,” said Dr. Bray.
Texas declined to expand federal contributions to Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act under the Biden administration. At the time. Governor Greg Abbott said there were too many strings attached.
The grant money from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act would presumably close part of the gap.
A lot of today’s testimony described how these hospital closures can put lives in jeopardy.
“I’ve watched rural families drive two, four or even five or six hours to try and access rehab after stroke, PTSD and other life-changing conditions because there wasn’t an affordable place closer to home,” said Dr. Jane Wigginton at the Texas Biomedical Device Center at UT Dallas.
State pursues $50 billion federal grant
Dig deeper:
The HHSC plans to apply for funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program. The program will allocate $50 billion to states over five years for rural health care initiatives.
“These sorts of federal grant programs that the state can use to make the right types of strategic investments to both keep many of these hospitals and healthcare programs open, but also expand them and create new opportunities for access,” said Dr. Bray.
Who Will Benefit from the Texas Rural Health Initiative?
The Rural Health Initiative in Texas will focus on
Pregnant or postpartum womenPeople age 19 and youngerOlder adultsIndividuals who are uninsured. 
What’s next:
The HHSC plans to submit the state application by Nov. 5th. Awards will be announced by the end of the year.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by FOX 4’s Alex Boyer.