JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – New data from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform showed almost half of Mississippi’s rural hospitals are at risk of closure.

Thirty-four of Mississippi’s 74 rural hospitals are struggling to stay afloat financially. Twenty-five of those hospitals are at immediate risk of closing within the next two to three years.

The main reason rural hospitals are facing these hardships is that health insurance plans are paying less than what it costs to deliver essential services.

Prior to the pandemic, rural hospitals have been losing money. However, the pandemic only worsened the trend.

In March 2023, the Mississippi Legislature approved a nearly $104 million grant program to help struggling hospitals.

State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney said the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) is looking at public health, science and data to provide information to the Legislature to help them make the best decision when it comes to healthcare.

“You know, just the importance of understanding the role of public health in the lives of every Mississippian and how important public health is for everybody. And, you know, and then it is time for us to do better and to get off the bottom and to invest in ourselves and invest in our children and our babies, and so that all of us can live a longer, healthier life,” he said.

Between 2005 and 2019, 150 hospitals across the country closed, according to data from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform

Edney said urban hospitals could see a patient influx from rural areas. He said MSDH is working diligently to revise healthcare infrastructure planning.