Roughly one in three rural hospitals in the United States remains at risk of closing, but the way rural communities are actually losing care has changed this year. Whole-hospital closures have slowed sharply, while individual departments within surviving hospitals continue to shut down. That distinction determines whether a family loses a building or loses the one service they needed.
The closure risk estimate comes from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, which analyzes hospital cost reports filed with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Its most recent analysis, using data current as of May 2026, counts 720 rural hospitals at risk of closing, including 294 at immediate risk over the next two to three years. That is a modest decline from the 734 the same group reported in January and the 756 it reported in December 2025.
