ATLANTA () – According to a fresh report from the Center for Quality Healthcare and Payment Reform, approximately 700 rural hospitals nationwide, comprising roughly one-third of all rural hospitals, face the possibility of shutdown. This includes 300 that are in immediate danger.

Of the 71 rural hospitals in Georgia, 20 hospitals are considered at risk and nine are considered at immediate risk.

The study indicates that the primary driver of this threat is financial losses from patient services, where the expense of providing care surpasses the reimbursement rates from insurance providers.

Since 2005, nine rural hospitals in Georgia have shut down.

The report details how the closure of these rural hospitals would result in residents having to travel greater distances to access essential services like imaging, maternal care, and lab testing.

One solution is to change the payment structure on how rural hospitals get paid to prevent closures and to find alternative funding solutions.

“You have limited surgical capacity capacities so the quality of healthcare is not necessarily suffering because patients can go to the regional hospital but in an emergency or trauma situation if they aren’t there people will die,” said Analyst Bill Crane.    

Experts say if a hospital closes, it also impacts the economy as these areas will have a hard time to attract a workforce impacting food and energy supplies.

The American Hospital Association says rural hospitals in Georgia could lose $540 million dollars over the next 10 years.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina issued a report that shows four hospitals in rural Georgia at risk of reducing services or closing including Fannin Regional in Blue Ridge, flint river community hospital in Montezuma, Irwin County Hospital in Ocilla and Washington County Regional Medical Center in Sandersville.